Book 1: Water is Adaptive
by WeirdosOnly12603
Summary: What if the Aang got spiritual help? What if there was a guardian chosen by the spirits to help him? Juliet, is the youngest child of Ozai with a great gift. She runs away from her father after a tragedy. Mentally broken she sets out to start over. The spirits though, have a different path for her.(used to be called Guardian Spirit)
1. Run

-Introduction-

-Juliet-

I run. Faster than the wind. Faster than a thought or sound. I run so fast I feel like I'm flying, well with my airbending I might as well be. I'm not paying to the direction I'm going, as long as it's away from the palace. I run fast but not fast enough. I look behind me and find a swarm of firebenders on rhinos slowly catching up on me.

 _Spirits!_ I curse. It's time to take out the big guns. I firebend from my hands using them as a speed boosts. I look behind me as the fire nation soldiers disappear into the horizon. But I don't stop. I don't stop until the sun set and I am _sure_ that I lost them, because if I get caught and they send me to my father I would never live it down.

I collapse on the floor, my chest heaving, and my legs numb. I couldn't think at the moment, and moments later I fall into peaceful unconsciousness.

* * *

 **AN: This was the first chapter of this story. I know it is short the next ones will be longer I promise. I am open to constructive criticism and ideas on how to continue this story, and as for Juliet you will learn more about her later on…**


	2. Strange Girl

-Strange Girl-

-Third Person-

The gaang just saved a small a small population of earth benders from a Fire Nation prison, and they were exhausted. They were now back on Appa continuing their journey to the North Pole. Katara was still silently mourning the loss of her mother's necklace. Sokka was rapidly depleting their food supply, and Aang was watching the sun set, excited for what new adventures approached them.

As they flew they heard Appa groan. Aang smiled tiredly, patted Appa on the head and said,

"You tired buddy?" Appa groaned back in confirmation, so Aang turned around to inform his friends that they were landing. Katara yawns and says

"Yeah, I think we all need a little rest, even Appa." They turn around to hear what Sokka thinks. But they find out he already passed out and is now drooling on Appa's saddle. Aang let out a small laugh, and returned on top of Appa's head and flicked the reins for landing.

When they landed they found the land very inconvenient. It had rough ground and there were rocks and bushes everywhere, so Katara woke Sokka up (much to his displeasure). Soon they were trudging across the forest for a suitable campsite when they stumbled upon a small flat area with no trees. There they found a small cave looking structure in the distance.

"What do you think it is?" Katara pondered out loud.

"I don't know. Let's find out!" Aang said excited. There could something awesome inside!

"Do we have to? It's late, besides I want to sleeeep," Sokka whined. There was no way he was going to walk farther to check something that could be completely useless.

"I hate to admit it, but Sokka's right. It's getting late and we need to sleep. Besides, it might be nothing," Katara says.

"Come on! It'll just be a peek, then if it's nothing then we'll zip right back and sleep as if nothing happens! Please?" Aang cries doing his baby doll eyes.

Katara sighs in resignation. She knows that Aang will continue bugging if she doesn't just give him what he wanted.

"Come on, Sokka," Katara says

"Yes!" Aang says victoriously while jumping happily into the air. He knew they'd come around sooner or later. Aang looked up at Appa and asked cheerfully,

"Just wait for us here okay, buddy?" as Appa groaned and settled down preparing to sleep as he began walking towards the cave looking thing, Katara following close behind.

Sokka watched them march further and further away and groans. He can't believe they're actually doing this.

"Fine!" he says begrudgingly as he started catching up with them.

They continued walking for the next few minutes. Aang was walking energetically ahead, because he actually wants to do this. Sokka and Katara lagged behind. Sokka whined the whole way, and Katara had to bear with it. It really started to get on her nerves tough. When the gaang finally made it after what felt like ages they finally arrived. It was indeed a cave, but it didn't look any different other than the fact it was the only one in this whole forest. Aang and Katara kept observing it silently when they heard a rustling noise behind them. They turn around to find Sokka stuffing his mouth with berries he found in his pocket.

"Whath? I wath hungreh,(It says: What? I was hungry. If you couldn't understand. )" Sokka said with his mouth full. Katara sighed as Aang shook his head. They turned their attention back to the cave. They found that the only sign that indicated someone was living inside the cave on the exterior was the ragged cloth draped over the entrance.

"Hey guys look at the cloth draped over the entrance. Someone must've put there" Katara said rather needlessly. Having hearing this Sokka quickly swallowed his berries and whipped his attention to the odd cave.

"I bet you guys somebody lives there; we should go check it out! They could give us some supplies, or food, or even better: a place to sleep!" Sokka exclaimed while daydreaming of having a warm place to sleep. Maybe coming here wasn't bad after all.

"I don't know guys; something about this place doesn't feel right. I mean, we're in the middle of the forest and we find someone who's probably living alone here. Doesn't that sound a little suspicious to you?" Katara argued while rubbing her arms; clearly having no problem in showing how uncomfortable she is.

"It's okay, Katara. We'll just try and see if anyone's home, if not we'll leave. Easy enough right?" Aang says gently, trying to convince her. He just really wanted to see what was inside.

"O-okay," she says reluctantly as they all walked up the cave.

"Hello? Hello, is anyone inside? We're sorry to bother you-" Katara says before she gets interrupted.

"Don't. Move," said a voice behind us, they turned around slowly to find a girl holding a handmade bow and arrow pointed straight at Aang. She had straight black chopped hair, piercing, golden coloured, and grey tinted eyes. She wore a red shirt, black leggings and brown booties. She had a brown belt around her waist that on one side carries twin swords and the other side to hold her bow. She also had a bag slung around her shoulder.

She looks like a very nice person _,_ Aang pondered thoughtfully, well, without her snarling at us. Sokka knew this was a bad idea in the first place but no! They wanted to go and explore and now we're all going to get killed by some psychotic bow and arrow lady! He yells at himself inwardly looking around for some way to get out of this mess. Katara on the other hand was in full blown panic mode. She felt her heart hammering at her chest, her breath quickened, and her palms began to sweat as she tried to keep her cool. It was pretty hard when you're about to die any second now.

"Now, now," she says, her voice was cold and hard, "What is the honorary avatar doing in my humble home?" she paused, narrowed her eyes, and tightened her hold on her bow, "Give me a good reason why I shouldn't Kill you all right now," she says fiercely.

Sokka and Katara widened their eyes in fear and horror, but Aang just blinked and asked

"How did you know that?"

"Well, if you haven't noticed there is a giant flying bison a few yards from hear, took a look at him and made a wild guess" She deadpans

"How did you know that Appa was a flying bison? There haven't any airbenders in a century; no one normal would know that." Aang counters. Katara and Sokka stared at Aang in disbelief. Was this guy crazy!? Katara started motioning for him to stop talking before they push the girl's patience too far. Meanwhile, Sokka was silently praying that they will make it out of this alive.

Despite this Aang was quite surprised. Most people would just accuse him of being an imposter, like the time in Kyoshi Island or call Appa a beast, but she didn't even consider it. It made him glad that there was still someone out there who knew this much about airbenders, even if she was going to kill him. Although, he never for a second believed that she would actually do it.

Abruptly, they heard the footsteps of soldiers as they came into view. Coming out of the forest was Commander Zhao (AN: Thanks to the guest reviewer who told me this!) and five other firebending soldiers. Zhao smiled smugly and said,

"Ah, avatar you are correct but she is no ordinary girl. I give you the runaway Princess Juliet of the Fire Nation."

The gaang gasped. The _Princess_ of the Fire Nation! Runaway!? Aang didn't think of all people the Fire Nation Princess would be the one interested about his nation. Sokka on the other hand, groaned inwardly. Great so now we have psychotic bow and arrow _Fire Nation_ lady, and the high Commander of the Fire Nation. But, if her life goal was to kill the Avatar like everyone else in the Fire Nation, why did she run away? Sokka wondered, so he yelled out,

"You were going to kill the Avatar, but you escaped from the Fire Nation?! How does that make any sense?!"

Juliet made no notice of him or his comment and instead said,

"So Zhao not tired of our little chase and capture game?" she paused feigning nonchalance "What is this the fourth or fifth time you found me?"

Katara was now very confused. Why did the Princess of the Fire Nation run away. It wouldn't make sense if it was to be on our side, then she wouldn't have threatened to kill them. And Zhao was hunting her too?

"Can't say honestly," he says as his smirk grows, "Although trust me Princess, I would stop and continue other much more important things across the seas but your father asked me to personally to send you back to the Fire Nation. He'd like to… converse with you, but now he will get what he wants and more because I now have got you and the Avatar." He laughs victoriously but it is devoid of mirth, sending chills down the gaang's spines. Fire Lord Ozai will be very pleased.

"Men, tie them up!" Zhao yelled. He was very bored of the chit chat and couldn't wait to show his prize to the Fire Lord.

"Wait! Don't!" Juliet yelled causing everyone to stare at her. Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment and rubbed the back of her neck nervously. She swiftly recovered by straightening her back and put on her emotionless face. She cleared her throat and said,

"I wouldn't advise you to do that Commander,"

Zhao raised his hand signalling his men to pause.

"And why not?" he asked. He was very agitated with all this nonsense. A snarl appeared on his face.

"You only have 5 men against me, the Avatar, I'm guessing she's a waterbender, and the guy with the boomerang." She pointed out insistently. If Zhao will capture anyone it would be her and only her. Nobody else has to suffer, so Juliet kept pushing on Zhao and said,

"I suggest you take me first, and trap them so they won't leave. Then, come back with a bigger force to secure them. That way you ensure your victory." She added that last part because Zhao would turn over once hearing about himself. Zhao looked at her then looked at the gaang his smile growing by the second. It made Juliet very uncomfortable, because that was his thinking face. That makes him unpredictable, which in turn, made him dangerous.

"Hm…great idea. Men tie the Avatar and traitors onto a tree. Make sure you use the strongest rope we have. I'm taking the girl with me."

Three men left trying to tie the gaang. They did not resist, as they knew that the girl tried to help as best she can to buy them more time. Nor did she resist when they tied her hands behind her back. As they started marching she realized something was different this time in a way she couldn't place. She got caught in front of people before, but this was different. She realized for the first time after living more or less alone for 3 years, she felt as if she lost something.

Meanwhile, the gaang just looked at each other with resignation and exhaustion. They were too tired to speak, their faces said it all. They all pondered on the events of today, the prison, the ride home, the odd cave, and most importantly the odd girl.

Why was she going to kill them? Why did she leave the Fire Nation? Why help them buy more time? Did she live alone this whole time? Why? Can she bend? When they tried to answer these questions with possibilities it just gave them more questions. They all pondered till their bodies forced them to sleep, all thinking the same thing:

Such a strange girl….


	3. New Member

-New Member-

-Aang-

I was restless. It was past midnight and he was still wide eyed as if nocturnal. He kept tossing and turning (well, as much as he can with ropes tightly around him) while Sokka and Katara were sound asleep. I glanced at their sleeping faces and sighed. I never meant for any of this to happen. Despite being a generally optimistic person I knew sooner or later Zhao and a much larger army of Fire Nation soldiers will come marching in to take us away and as hard as I try I can't get us out of these ropes. Also, I think they would've gotten that girl in their custody. I think her name is Juliet-yeah that is what Zhao called her. Actually, now that I think about it she is the reason I cannot sleep. I can't get her out of my head! There's just so much we don't know about her. She's from the Fire Nation, but she didn't look mean. She was going to kill me, but didn't look like she wanted to. Although, she did all those things I couldn't help but feel guilty. Because maybe if I didn't be all nosy Zhao wouldn't have captured her. That maybe if we weren't there she would have had the chance to escape. I yawn; it seems that sleep has finally caught up. I glumly look around at the same trees as sleep started claiming me.

Suddenly I hear rustling noises behind me which wakes me up slightly. Then, I eye a black figure moving in a familiar dancing-like style, as an unnatural slice of air whooshed past and cut our ropes. By then, I was on the verge of passing out from exhaustion. However, not only did I manage to see that was peculiar that they never touched the rope, but also how familiar their technique was and how inhumanely fast they ran away. It was almost as if…

As if they were airbending…

* * *

-Third Person-

In a dark office in a prison whose location is classified, there sat Zhao deciding what else to do with his newest prisoner. That is when one of his guards entered the room to inform him,

"Sir, the fugitive has successfully escaped again." He snarled. How does that brat keep running away from him?! He thought. Temper rising, he sneered

"Does anyone know how she got out?"

"No sir, it's as if she wasn't there in the first place."

He growled as smoke left his nose. This was not the first time. Every time that brat ran away it was as if she could go through walls. He stood up, slammed his hands on the table, and said exasperatedly,

"Prepare the troops to return to that forest to capture the Avatar and wait for my orders to march."

The soldier just nodded and left. He was worried that saying anything would make him angrier than he already was. As he left Zhao yelled angrily while throwing a fireball at the wall in front of him. He stared at the burned metal and slumped in his chair.

He wondered what Ozai was going to tell him now.

* * *

-Sokka-

I woke up at the first rays of sun with an annoying back ache and a numb arm. I groan annoyed and got up slowly to stretch. How in the world did we get here? I look around and the memories of yesterday hit me. Cave. Girl. Fire Nation. Zhao. They're coming back to get us. But wait, weren't we tied with rope? I looked back to the tree to find Aang and Katara asleep on the tree with ripped rope hanging loosely around them. My eyes widened in alarm. Somebody cut our ropes? Who could it be? Why would they do it? I had to wake them up. I shook them awake and as if sensing my alarm, their eyes snapped open.

"What is it, Sokka?" Katara mumbled, rubbing her eyes as she and Aang slowly stood up.

"Somebody untied our ropes!" I exclaim.

Katara's eyes widened in shock, and I can see her realizing where we are right now. Aang however, rubbed the back of his neck nervously. He knew something. That much was obvious. I narrow my eyes suspiciously, but I don't say anything. He is going to give in sooner or later. So, I continued staring at him as he became increasingly uncomfortable. Then he sighed. Victory!

"I'm not sure, but I think I saw someone untie us while asleep," Aang admitted.

Katara looked at us weirdly and said

"Is that what the staring was for?" She sighed "I'll go get Appa. You guys can continue whatever on earth you're doing."

As she left I returned my attention back to Aang.

"But, there was no way they could've cut the rope without waking us. It is pretty tough rope," I point out.

"They didn't. They didn't even touch it…it was almost as if…" Aang trailed of reluctantly.

"As if what?"

"I think they were airbending," Aang said finally.

I look at him incredulously. Was he serious? I know he's an optimist, but this is too much! Before I can tell him anything though, Katara arrives on Appa and Momo on her shoulder.

"You guys ready to go?" She says.

"Wait, what about that girl? Shouldn't we help her?" Aang interjects.

"Um…no. Why would we?" I reply.

"We shouldn't leave her to the mercy of the Fire Nation!"

"But Aang, she was going to kill you," Katara replies.

"Yeah, and besides, she's Princess of the Fire Nation!" I exclaim while getting on Appa.

"It doesn't matter who she is or where she's from." Argued Aang "She went to prison for us!"

When he said that, I felt a pang of guilt that made me sign in defeat. Stupid emotions!

"Fine, we'll get her out of the stupid prison!" I say.

* * *

-Third Person-

A few moments later Sokka managed to find the general direction they were keeping Juliet and they were zooming of on Appa to find her. They were silent the entire ride. Sokka was checking his pockets for more food. Katara was humming a song her mother taught her. Aang was thinking about the mysterious person who cut their ropes. Though, no matter how much they tried distracting themselves they kept returning to the same idea: they were breaking and entering a prison for a person they barely knew. Time past and it reached sunset. As Appa kept flying they spotted a remote island where a menacing metallic building lied.

"That's got to be the prison. Appa Yip! Yip!" Aang says.

They all look at each other and nod. They were ready for this. Appa landed far enough not to be spotted, as the gaang prepared for their stealth mission. Once, Katara, Sokka, and Aang reached the gates, Aang jumps, while carrying them, on to the roof of the building. Sokka whispers determinedly,

"First let's find someone that'll tell us where Juliet is, then we'll figure it out from there, Okay?"

Aang and Katara nodded, unaware of someone spying on them as they began.

-Zhao-

As I was preparing to leave my trusted spy/advisor, Qi Xing, entered the room hurriedly and said,

"Sir, the Avatar and his friends are on the roof of the prison! They are trying to find out where the Princess is!"

I smiled. This is probably the best thing that could happen to me!

"Tell them where she is, it'll become their new home," I said while laughing as Qi Xing bowed and walked away.

-Third Person-

The gaang sneaked around carefully avoiding guards until they find a lone one. They entered into a hallway after sneaking on the rooftops of the courtyard and oddly, found only one guard.

"Something doesn't feel right about this," Sokka said.

Katara replied,

"What other choice do we have?"

Then they quickly made sure that all their weapons were ready and jumped out of their hiding spot.

"Tell us where the Princess is being held!" Sokka said while holding his club threateningly.

Surprising the gaang, the guard just dropped his sword and said,

"Two lefts, and a right, the third door,"

Aang blinked. He was expecting a little more fighting than that. Sokka was right, he thought, something is up. Nonetheless, the gaang awkwardly left the guard and followed his directions. When they arrived they found the door hung wide open and found Zhao with 4 men standing behind him. Zhao smirked and said,

"How sweet, the Avatar trying to save the Princess. It might've been successful if the Princess were actually here." He laughed, making the gaang increasingly dreadful.

Then Zhao looked at them sinisterly as he snapped, and ten more guards arrived behind them. When they started to submit to defeat, they heard a loud burning noise. Zhao's smile faded as everyone looked up to find a large hole through ceiling. Then, faster than a thought or sound, a sphere-like object fell from the hole.

 _Clink!_

The object started releasing smoke so much it made it impossible to see. On instinct, Aang, Katara, and Sokka huddled and shut their eyes. A figure jumped down as Zhao yelled,

"It's an ambush! Stay alert!"

They tried the figure knocked them out one by one, only leaving the gaang and Zhao safely. The figure then moved her hands in a small circle and dispersed all the smoke in seconds to reveal…Juliet. The gaang looked at her in shock. She looked back at them warningly, signalling them to stay back. Meanwhile, Zhao was now seething cauldron of anger. He glared at her. Without warning, swung a huge fireball at her and charged at her with an angry scream. She gracefully rolled over the fireball and swung her leg across the floor, sending a slice of air towards him. This pushed Zhao enough to distract him as she threw a powerful fireball on his stomach. This pushed Zhao to the wall as he groaned in pain and slumped against the wall, unconscious. The gaang stared in shock.

"So, this is the thank you I get?" she says with a sly smile.

The gaang continued gawking, not processing what they just saw as she chuckled softly. Sokka snapped out of it as shook his head vigorously and looked at her incredulously.

"Wha-How? How did you do that?!" He exclaimed

"First, let's get out of here. I don't think they're going to stay like that for too long," She replied.

Katara and Aang looked at each and nodded. They stood underneath the hole Juliet created.

"Hold on," Aang said as he grabbed Sokka and Katara by the waist and jumped out.

Juliet followed them, jumping out with her airbending. Though, instead of safely landing she dropped her bag and weakly fell down in pain. Katara immediately knelt down to see what's wrong as Sokka and Aang worriedly stood behind her.

"Breathe, where does it hurt?" Katara asked calmly.

Juliet bit her lip until it bled and pointed to her stomach. Katara gently laid her on her back as she let a hiss of pain.

"Sorry," Katara murmured.

Katara gently lifted her shirt to find a horrendous gash cutting right below her ribcage to her lower abdomen. Katara's eyes widened as she asked

"How did you get this?"

"It's what Zhao does when you don't answer, nnngh, equipment…my bag," She forced out.

"Why didn't it bleed before?"

"Oh it did. I stitched it up myself."

"Aang, I need you to go get Appa, and Sokka get me her bag," Katara ordered with a determined glint in her eye.

Aang flew away on his glider hurriedly, and Sokka grabbed Juliet's bag. Moments later, Sokka arrived with her bag, and Katara started digging through it until she found a clean rag and said,

"I am not going to lie to you; this is going to hurt a lot. Just focus on something like…Sokka,"

"Me?"

"Yeah you, go distract her for me,"

"Um…okay"

Sokka sat down near to her as Katara began trying to stop the bleeding.

"You know none of you introduced your…nnngh….selves yet," Juliet said trying to distract herself from Katara pressing the wound with the rag.

"Oh well, sorry we couldn't squeeze introductions between being chased by angry commander and almost being killed by you," Sokka said sarcastically.

Juliet laughed a little, then groaned in pain because of doing that.

"I'm guessing you're Sokka, that's what the lady currently torturing me said."

"Yeah I'm Sokka. That's my sister Katara, and the Avatar, his name is Aang."

"Yeah? You probably already know this but I am Juliet, Princess of the Fire Nation."

"Yeah, we figured that out. Why did you run away?"

"I don't like talking about it."

"Oh, okay. How about the bending?"

"I'm a prodigy, a duel bender of fire and air. I'm related to Avatar Roku so yeah I guess that's why."

"Really that's weird considering everyone in your family wants to kill the Avatar,"

"It's crazy I know."

"You want to know anything else?"

"Sokka…sounds Water Tribe. Northern?"

"Southern."

"Huh, interesting. How did you meet the Avatar at such an isolated area?"

"We found him in an iceberg. He's been in there for a hundred years and have been traveling the world ever since."

"Wow, weird things like this happen to you often?"

"You have no idea."

"I thought you guys hated Fire Nation, much less royalty. Why help me?"

"Well, I really didn't like you, but since you saved our butt twice I didn't think you were that bad."

When Juliet opened her mouth to speak Katara interrupted her and said,

"The bleeding's stopped I'm going to begin stitching it. Okay?"

"Okay," she answered through gritted teeth.

"Sokka I need your help," Katara said

Once Katara and Sokka finished stitching the wound Aang arrived on Appa. Katara packed up Juliet's bag and rode on Appa, as Sokka carefully carried Juliet on to Appa, and they began to ride away. As they flew Juliet said,

"I still can't believe you guys came back for me. Whose stupid idea was that?"

"Hey don't look at me, I said we should forget all about you," Sokka respond

"Guess you and I are the only rational people huh?"

"That's true."

Juliet smiled and raised her fist,

"Then I guess we should stick together to make sure we don't become insane, huh?"

Sokka smiled slightly, and they fist bumped.

* * *

 **AN: Sorry this is so late Term 2 Finals are no joke! This chapter was mainly a Juliet and Sokka one and I hoped you liked it. Don't worry there will be enough bonding time for everyone.**

 **Anyway I also wanted to say that this and the chapters took place after the episode named "Imprisoned". After this chapter I think I am more or less going to follow the canon episodes of the first season (we'll see about later seasons).**


	4. Spirits pt1: Guardian Spirit

**Disclaimer: I (sadly) do not own Avatar The Last Airbender. Just my OC Juliet.**

* * *

-Spirits-

-Third Person-

A few weeks past and the gaang continued their journey to the North Pole. Katara and Sokka were both lying on their stomachs and stared at the sky. Juliet couldn't do that because of her injury, which was better, but still needed to heal. Therefore, she was lying down on some pillows Aang gave her, and was staring up at the sky thoughtfully. Aang was sitting down comfortably on the driver's seat. The silence was broken by Katara.

"Don't you think those clouds look so soft? It's as if you can just jump onto them in big, soft cottony heap," She thought out loud.

"Why don't you try and let me know how it goes," Sokka offered.

"Ha-Ha," Juliet responded sarcastically

"I'll try it!" Aang jumped up excitedly. He jumped off Appa flying head first to the ground. The Water Tribe siblings looked down looked down searching for him, while Juliet tried to sit up. A few seconds later Aang landed next to them soaking wet.

"Turns out clouds are made of water," He said.

Sokka face palms while Juliet giggles a little, as they all fell, once again, into a comfortable silence. Juliet returns to staring at the sky, except this time sitting up. Her thoughts drifted back to her family. She thought about her sister, Azula, and how she was doing. Believe it or not the two girls were inseparable when they were young. She then thought about Zuko, she didn't play with him much, being about four years older than her, but close nonetheless. When she left he was…banished until he captured the Avatar!

"Hey guys, was Zuko chasing you guys around before I met you guys?" Juliet asked.

"Who?" They all responded in unison.

"Zuko? Prince of the Fire Nation, Black hair, big scar covering his face, even bigger temper."

"Oh yeah, that guy has been chasing since us since Katara and Sokka got me out of that iceberg," Aang replied.

"He's a huge pain in the neck if you ask me. I mean I don't get why he has such a big problem with us. He took one too many fireballs into the head," Sokka added. Katara jabbed him in the stomach for his insensitivity.

"You shouldn't go around judging people you haven't met," Juliet mumbled softly as she hugged her legs to her chest while looking down.

"What was that?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow. He did not understand why her mood suddenly changed.

She stood up abruptly and yelled,

"I said: you shouldn't go around judging people you haven't met! You didn't even know Zuko's name! Yeah, he's a pain in the neck sometimes, and yes, his patience is a bit short, but have you ever thought why he's like that, or why he's even chasing you guys all around the world?!"

Eyes blown wide, Sokka, Katara, and Aang stared at Juliet in shock. Finally, Sokka broke the silence by repenting,

"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to"-

"No, it's fine. I was just overreacting," She said quietly, as she began to walk towards the edge of Appa's saddle.

"Where are you going?" Katara asked.

"Just for a run. Hey Aang wanna join me? It'll be fun," Juliet replied, swiftly changing the subject.

"Um, o-okay," Aang said awkwardly. "Let us just land and"-

"No need we'll just jump down, run a little, then hop right back up," She replied impatiently.

"Okay then!" Aang said somewhat cheerfully, happy that they will be alone. He wanted to try and show her a different of view to make her see why Sokka said that. Maybe it'll make her feel better, he thought.

"Katara, can you lead Appa while I'm gone?"

"Sure, just be careful with your injury Juliet," Katara replied worriedly. Julia nodded while avoiding eye contact with Sokka. Aang and Juliet jump and begin to hurtle straight to the ground. Instantly, Juliet begins to loosen up, and released a hearty laugh. She and Aang began to use their airbending to slow their fall when they neared to the ground. When they dropped Aang asked teasingly while pointing to a faraway tree,

"Race you to that tree?"

"Oh, it's on," Juliet replied with a mischievous grin. The zoomed off, running as fast as possible, with energized faces and cheerful laughs. Aang arrives to the tree a few seconds before Juliet as he yells victoriously.

"Ha! I win!" He said.

"Hey! That was only because I'm injured! I'll get you sometime, so don't you go celebrating too quickly," She replied with determined grin.

Aang's smile faded as he remembered the conversation earlier and said,

"Look, about earlier, I know Sokka was very insensitive about Zuko. You had every right to yell at him but that doesn't mean"-

"Can we not talk about this," She said uncomfortably. Her features stiffened, her expression was guarded.

"We have to." Aang insistently, "Look, Sokka had no right to say what he said, but you have to see his point of view."

"What may that be?" She says incredulously. She couldn't think of a person who would act such a way. Even her father and even citizens, wait and see, study your action then hit you where it hurts most.

"He's been isolated from the world. The Fire Nation kept coming back and taking all the waterbenders of his people. They killed his mother. His father left him and Katara to fight the war," Aang listed.

Juliet slumped; realisation hit her like a ton of bricks.

"He doesn't know who to believe is good or bad. His whole life he's been bombarded with evidence that the Fire Nation is all evil," She said.

"Exactly," He made eye contact and saw a flicker of hope, "Are you still mad?"

"Yes, at my people," she replied.

Suddenly, Juliet started hearing a laugh she looked around to locate the source. She found a girl playing fetch with a baby skunk bear. She had long curly black hair and grey-blue eyes. She also wore long white dress that reached her calves with short angel sleeves. Something about her though, made her feel as if she knew her, yet she's never seen her before. How odd, she thought.

"Hey Aang do you see her?" She said while indicating the direction the girl is.

"See who?" He said confusedly "I don't see anyone but us,"

Juliet's eyes widened slightly. She must be seeing things. She would tell Aang, he _is_ the Avatar after all, but she didn't feel like she could trust him just yet. She needed to figure out what's happening on her own.

"Oh, silly me! It was just some dust, must have been way too much excitement for me!" She forced out a laugh "Why don't you go back up to Appa, I'll catch up with you later. I need to do something,"

"Oh, okay," Aang said unsure, but eventually left. Once he was out of sight she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and slumped. She felt a little guilty for lying to Aang, but she had to focus on the task at hand. The girl's laughter grew louder as Juliet approached her, but once she was within arm's reach the girl disappeared. Juliet's confusion turned to curiosity. She looked around for any hints or evidence at all but found none. Without warning, a bright light shined in her eyes and knocked her out.

When she woke up, Juliet found herself surrounded by five figures almost ten meters high towering over her. A few seconds later she was overcome by a pounding headache.

"Where…where am I?" Juliet asked weakly while holding her head.

"You are in a very special area of the Spirit World. Welcome to the Room of Five, where the spirits of the four main elements meet. I am Agni spirit of fire. Those are Tui and La the spirits of the ocean and moon; they make up the water element. This is Anemoi, spirit of air, and finally Cailleh spirit of the earth," Agni replied.

Juliet's eyes started focusing as her eyes widened and her mouth fell open. She looked to find five spirits in beautiful robes matching their element colour all of them emanating a golden hue. Agni's long wavy hair was made of fire. Tui had short straight hair made of the deep sea. La had a whit glowing halo over her shoulder-length platinum blond hair. Anemoi had an airy appearance (no pun intended) as if he were part of a dream, while Cailleh carried a firm expression and was essentially built out of rock. Juliet shrank back a bit in fear.

"What would powerful spirits like you, want to do with some mortal like me?" She asked wearily.

"You have been chosen to be the next Guardian Spirit of the Avatar," Cailleh answered.

"Guardian Spirit?" Juliet asked. She knew very little about the Guardian Spirit. Partially because when she was reading her main goal was to learn more about airbenders, but also because she couldn't find any details about what he or she does or what capabilities they possess. The Earth God sighed. He hated when he had to do all the explaining, yet every time he ends up with the job.

"The Guardian Spirit is a boy or girl chosen by the spirits to help the Avatar. Whoever we choose gets the Guardian Spirit's spirit that has been every each and every one of them that allow them to have gifted bending capabilities, like bending two elements. They also have enhanced spiritual powers, which help them help the Avatar. Their main job is to advise, support, and protect the Avatar so they can fulfill their job," He explained monotonously.

Juliet's features darkened. She has been trying to listen throughout his speech, but one thing was on her mind: Those spirits made her what she is.

"So, you guys did this to me? Do you know what I went throughout my life because of my 'gifted capabilities'?"

Anemoi tried to speak,

"Yes, we know the"-

"You knew?! You just left me there to suffer my whole life and now you're coming back to tell me that you need me to help the Avatar?!" Juliet practically screamed.

"Young lady! We gave you powers that no one can dream of! We deserve a little respect!" Tui replied

"Well take them back! Take it all back! I didn't want any of this! Take it away! AWAY!" She screeched as tears started to form. She curled up in a ball and said softly as she wept,

"Please, take it away."

"I don't have time for these horrid emotions," Cailleh scoffed as he disappeared.

"Neither do I. Are you coming La?" Tui said

"I think we should stay and comfort the girl. She's been through a lot we've no right to judge her" La replied.

"We are the same, yet so different," Tui said as she disappeared along with Anemoi so he can speak with his brother.

Juliet wasn't paying attention to any of them she was sobbing quietly. The silent sobbing that she was used to doing every night. The type that was forbidden to be done by a princess.

"Child, we know that you have gone through immense pain throughout your childhood, but this is a chance to end it, for everyone," Agni said soothingly

Juliet looked up at Agni with bloodshot eyes filled with unshed tears, and pain so immense it was sickening.

"H-how?" She hiccupped.

"By going out there and doing what you're destined to do, help end the war. Your friends will stop suffering , the Avatar needs you," La said softly

Juliet stopped crying. Her friends were still out there. She couldn't sit here and cry all day, they're the only people who cared enough to worry about her, except her mother. She still has a mission to complete.

"Is that all I need to know about the Guardian Spirit thing?" She said emotionlessly.

"For now, child. I am glad you changed your mind," Agni smiled as she snapped her fingers.

Juliet glared in resentment at the goddesses towering over her.

"Not for you, for them," She replied as light engulfed her.

She found herself lying down in the forest. She sighed tiredly. Why does everything have to be so hard for her? She looked to find the gaang nowhere near. She boost jumped to see if they were anywhere near her. When she looks around she finds a big black spot in the midst of all the trees. They must be there, she thought. She continued running, so she can catch up to them. When she reached the spot of burned trees.

"Hey guys sorry for being….whoa. What happened here?" Juliet replied.

"It's about time you showed. Look at what happened here!" Katara replied. Juliet quickly apologized and looks around at the charred part of the forest. She was about to tell them what happened to her when she finds Aang sitting on the floor looking at the ground.

"Fire Nation!" Sokka yells "Those evil savages make me sick!" He paused "No offense," He says, looking at her apologetically.

Juliet shrugs him off, focusing on Aang.

"None taken," Juliet said.

She continues walking towards Aang and asks worriedly.

"You okay?"

"No, I'm not. Why would anyone do this? How could I let this happen?" Aang looks at her, ashamed.

"It's not your fault. You weren't here to stop it. Don't be so hard on yourself," Juliet reasoned.

"But it's the Avatar's job to protect everyone, including nature," He argued mournfully.

"It's okay Aang. That's why we're taking you to the North Pole, to find you a master," Katara added.

"Yeah, a waterbending teacher, but no one can teach me how to be the Avatar. Monk Gyatso told me that Avatar Roku would help me," He sighed, clearly troubled.

Juliet looks down at the burnt grass, but she saw something else other than destruction; hope. She looks at him and smiles softly.

"You want to know something I learned about Fire Nation?" Juliet asked.

"What?" He looked at her with intent.

"They always think when they give you a punch or two their victims will just give up. However, as long as they leave remains, something will grow out of it, bigger and stronger," She says.

"There are no remains though, Juliet, just ash," Aang replies.

"There is Aang. If you look closely you'll find these acorns scattered all around," Juliet says. She grabs one of the acorns and throws it, landing straight onto Sokka's head.

"Hey!" He yells.

"That's for insulting my brother!" She yells back.

"Yeah okay, probably deserved that" He muttered.

"You see Aang? There's nothing to worry about. This forest will grow back, bigger and stronger than before," Juliet says, turning her attention back to him. Aang releases a small laugh, causing Juliet to remember what she had to say.

"Oh, right! When I told you to leave and I'll catch up to you, I met of spirits earth, water, air, and fire!" Juliet exclaimed.

"Really?" Aang said excitedly.

"Yeah! They told me that I'm your Guardian Spirit! How cool is that?!" She said, leaving out the part that she also utterly hated them.

"That's so awesome! We'll be hand in hand then!" He replied as he wrapped her in a tight hug. She broke the hug and laughed. She was honestly much more excited by the prospect now. Meanwhile Aang smiled back at her and stared at her. He looked at her happy eyes and soft pink lips. Has she been this pretty? He always thought Katara was his one and only, but now he was no longer sure. Sokka and Katara smiled at them. They were interrupted by an old man walking up towards them.

"When I saw the flying bison, I thought it was impossible, but those markings…are you the Avatar, child?" he asked. Aang nodded in response. "My village desperately needs your help."

For the rest of the afternoon, the gaang followed the old man back to his village. When they finally made it, it was sunset. They looked around to find most of the buildings were severely damaged and destroyed. The old man led them to one of the only undamaged buildings and introduced them to the village Chief.

"It is the greatest honour of a lifetime to be in your presence," the chief bowed.

"It's nice to meet you to…so, is there something I can help you with?" Aang asked

"I'm not sure" The chief replied looking troubled.

"Our village is in crisis, he is our only choice. For the last few days at sunset a spirit monster comes and attacks our village. He is Hei-Bai the black and white spirit," the old man

"So you're saying this spirit comes marching in here every night, trashes the place, then leaves? It sounds like he's holding a grudge. Do you know why he might be doing this?"

"We don't have any idea why, but each time he arrives he abducts one of our own. We fear that it's only going to get worse with the arrival of the winter solstice," the Chief stated. Juliet cursed under her breath. She got so caught up with the spirits situation she completely forgot about the solstice. The winter solstice meant the creepiest dreams she's ever seen. She always thought they trying to tell her something, but till now she couldn't figure it out.

"Why? What happens then?" Katara asked.

"As the solstice approaches, the barriers between our world and the spirit world become smaller and smaller until the line between them is blurred completely," the old man explained.

"Hei-Bai is already causing devastation. Once the solstice arrives there's no telling what happens," the Chief added.

"So, what do you want me to do exactly?" Aang asked.

"You're the great bridge between our world and the spirit world. Just go and do your thing," Juliet replied looking at him expectantly. She looked to find the gaang looking back at her with blank and worried faces.

"Oh boy," she mumbled "This is going to be interesting."

Everyone stood in the building in an uncomfortable silence, as they watched Aang walk towards the entrance of the village. Sokka sighed exasperatedly and said

"This isn't right! We can't sit here and cower while Aang waits for some spirit monster to show up."

"If anyone can save us, he can," the old man countered.

"He still shouldn't have to face that demon-thingy all by himself," Sokka stated. They all watched the sky darken and the sun dip itself underneath the horizon.

"The sun has set. Where are you Hei-Bai? Well, spirit um…uh, I hereby ask you to please leave this village alone!" Aang declared. He twirled his staff and then planted it on the ground. A pang of anxiety hit Juliet's gut. This wasn't going to end well, she knew. Aang turned around and head for the safe house with a nervous look. The feeling in her gut intensified as she stared at the colossal six-legged beast emerged behind him with a threatening look. Aang saw a shadow cast over him Aang turned around and faced Hei-Bai with a cautious smile.

"Hey! You must be Hei-Bai spirit. I'm the Avatar. My name is-" Aang was cut off by the spirit shooting blue energy ball from its mouth, blowing Aang's staff to the ground. Although that left Aang scrambling for his life, the spirit waited for no one. He continued blast blue energy destroying the village once again. Aang continued to try and console the spirit while evading all his attack, but the spirit wasn't listening. He either answered with an angry blast of energy, or chose to ignore him all together and continued with his destruction of the village.

"The Avatar's methods are very…unusual," the Chief observed as they watched on.

"He's a 15 year old boy that came out of an iceberg not too long ago. He's not exactly Master Avatar material," Juliet pointed out.

"It doesn't seem to be interested in what he's saying. Maybe we should help him," Sokka proposed.

"No. Only the Avatar can stand a chance against Hei-Bai," the old man insisted.

"Maybe, but it doesn't look like he can keep up with him for too long," Juliet replied looking increasingly tense. They continued watching Aang try to console Hei-Bai, until he swatted him away. Consequently, Aang slammed one of the village houses and collapsed to the ground.

"That's it! He needs help!" Sokka exclaimed as he rushed out the door to help Aang.

"Sokka! Wait!" Juliet rushed after him ignoring Katara's cries. She saw Sokka running after the spirit and Aang still buried under the rubble of the house. She cursed

"Don't do anything crazy Sokka," She muttered under her breath. She ran towards Aang to help him out, and spun around in the air, releasing a powerful blast of air, pushing away most of the rubble. She found Aang unconscious with a large piece wood on top his legs. She heard him groan, as she pushed the wood of him. He woke up in pain

"Ugh…did Hei-Bai leave?"

"I wish. Look I know you're tired and in pain, but Sokka just left and he's going to do something rash," Juliet said urgently. Aang's eyes widened as he jumped up and ran towards the spirit.

"Wait up, Aang!" Juliet cried, but no avail. She cursed; those boys would be the death of her. She ran after them to find Hei-Bai diving in to grab Sokka. Without thinking, she charged toward Sokka pushing him out of the way, as Hei-Bai grabbed her instead.

"Hey! Get your filthy hands of me, you spirit weirdo!" Juliet yelled, as thrashed around trying to get out of his grip. In a flash Hei-Bai and Juliet disappeared and her yells silenced, as Aang followed behind with his glider.

* * *

Sokka stared at the edge of the forest guiltily, as the moon rose well above the horizon. Moment later, Katara walked up to him and wrapped a blanket around him and spoke worriedly.

"Sokka, don't you think it's time to go inside? You've been here for hours."

"It should've been me," he says quietly.

"Don't say that-"

"But, it should've! The spirit was going right for me, but the next thing I notice she pushes me out of the way!" he shot down.

"Don't worry, Aang's going after them and he's going to find her and get her back. You'll see," Katara promised.

"I hope you're right. I think…I think I'm ready to go now," Sokka replied. They walked together back to the hut they were allowed to stay in.

* * *

Juliet woke up to find herself in the…Fire Nation Palace? She woke up groggily looking confusedly. She saw two familiar looking boys run across the hallway and laughing together, as they….ran through her!? Something was very wrong, she thought. She started walking along to see if anything can explain what was happening. Consequently, she walked past a window which revealed the blue hue radiating off of her. Seconds later, a bright light shined beside her to present Anemoi floating beside her. He was only 6 inches higher than her, rather than his enormous size she saw earlier.

"I know what you're thinking: where are you and how did you get here. Well, it is fortunate that Hei-Bai took you instead of the Water Tribe boy, because I would like to talk to you," Anemoi stated.

"What more do you want from me? Cailleh already explained all the 'qualities' I have and what my job is. What more could you possibly have to say? Also, why are we here?" she asked. She noticed the spirit's face darken at the mention of his brother. The probably didn't have a great relationship, she supposed.

"Yes, Yes, but I have an extra secret mission for you that I knew the other members wouldn't understand. Before I tell you this though, I would like to show you a tale," Anemoi explained vaguely, putting extra emphasis on the word 'secret'.

"Oh yeah? Why don't you tell me this 'tale' of yours, and maybe then I'll think about joining your _extra secret_ mission," she replied looking suspicious.

"Very well then. You may have seen to boys running by, those will be our main characters," he snapped his fingers and changed the scenery where the same boys only older were talking. They were standing in a room with many decorations, commoner decoration, she assumed.

"Can't believe your leaving, Roku," one of the boys said.

"Me neither, Sozin. Well, when I come back I hope you don't change too much, your highness," he bowed before giggling.

"Same here, oh wise Avatar," He replied with a grin. Anemoi snapped his fingers and looks at Juliet.

"You may have gathered by now, that you are watching Fire Lord Sozin and Avatar Roku speaking. This had happened right before the young Avatar left to begin his studies, and master the elements. This may be surprising, but Sozin and Roku were best of friends. However, the boy grew in an area filled with corruption and greed while his friend saw the wonders of the world; a situation that can end even the strongest friendships," He explained. He snapped his fingers once again, this time in the throne room. Both boys were much older, and there looks weren't as friendly as before. Sozin had a look of fury and resentment, while Roku stared at him, disheartened. Anemoi snapped his finger as the scene came to play.

"I don't think that's a great idea Sozin," Roku warned.

"But, it is! You think just because you're the Avatar it gives you the right to make all the calls?!" Sozin questioned.

"What you're planning to do will cause an imbalance! You have no idea what the consequences are!" Roku yelled back.

"I'll do what I want to do, and no one's going to stop me!" He answered furiously. He charged at the Avatar with a fire whip. However, Roku swiftly blocked it and charge back at Sozin pinning him to the wall. He gave him a leveled stare and gave him his final warning.

"This will not go on Sozin. If you continue you will have to face my wrath."

Anemoi snapped his fingers and everything froze again. He looked at her and continued explaining to her.

"As you can obviously predict, Sozin did not heed Roku's warning. In fact once Roku died, he decided to continue with his plans, which led to gruesome consequences."

Anemoi snapped his fingers and they turned to a totally different place. Juliet was bombarded with chaos everywhere. People were trying and failing to help others. Their bloodcurdling shrieks and distressed wails made her legs feel weak. She started remembering what happened to her more vividly than ever before. When she opened her mouth to scream, it stopped. She felt herself being pushed, to find herself standing outside the forest again. The first thing she saw as Sokka, Katara, and Aang smashing her into a hug. They released her and gave her worried looks.

"What happened?" she asked while holding her head. She felt awful all she could remember was everyone screaming.

"You were in the spirit world for 24 hours. How do you feel?" Katara asked in a motherly tone.

"Not really good," Juliet replied feeling queasy.

"I can't believe you did that! Are you out of your mind?!" Sokka cried.

"What did I do?" Juliet asked confusedly.

"You ran in front of me, so he would take you instead of me! You could've been killed!"

"But, I wasn't," she countered

"But, you could've been. You have to promise me you won't do that again," he replied seriously. Then, everything hit her. She didn't mean to be taken in his stead, just to get him out of the way. On another note, what did Anemoi achieve by showing her all of that? She looked up at Sokka to be faced by a unusually grave face. Who knew he could be so serious?

"Okay, I promise," she sighed.

"Well, we're just glad you're back," Aang smiled. The Chief walked up to them and thanked Aang.

"Thank you, Avatar. Is there anything we can do to repay you and your friends for what you have done?"

"We need supplies, food, money," Sokka replied.

"Sokka!" Katara exclaimed, elbowing him.

"It would be an honour to help you prepare for your journey," The chief smiled and went off to prepare supplies for them.

"There's something I have to tell you guys," Aang told the group "I think I found a way I can contact Avatar Roku."

"That's great!" Katara smiled.

"Creepy, but great," Sokka commented.

"There's a temple on a crescent-shaped island. There, I'll be able to talk with him he explained. We have to be there before the solstice," he explained.

"But, the solstice is tomorrow," Katara said.

"Oh no…" Juliet said looking at Aang worriedly. He nodded knowingly.

"What is it?" Sokka asked.

"The island is in the Fire Nation," Juliet and Aang said in unison.


	5. Spirits pt2: Family Feuds

**Nope. Not dead. Sorry for the wait. On with the show! Also, I know the characters might be a bit OOC but I think it's okay since they're older now and may act a bit differently. Also, if you guys were wondering what their ages are now...**

 **Aang and Juliet are 15.**

 **Katara and Azula(and her gang) are 16.**

 **Sokka and Suki are 17.**

 **Zuko is 18.**

 **I hope this clarified a few things.**

 **P.S: The dream scene(a.k.a the beginning part in italics) might not be that graphic, but it may still upset some readers. Just warning you guys.**

* * *

\- Spirits Part 2-

 _She stood in the middle of a dark abyss. This was unusual for her winter solstice dreams usually started in her home, the Fire Nation. She found herself looking at her reflection copying her exact moves and emotions. Suddenly, the reflection changed, her hair was longer and put in a very messy ponytail. Her clothes were ripped and she no longer carrying her bow and arrow and swords on her belt, but crazily holding a small, crooked, dagger instead. She had a wild smile and an insane look in her eye and was shaking violently as if she were going to collapse. Startled, Juliet took a fearful step back. Moments later, Anemoi appeared beside her insane self. He was no longer wearing his usual emotionless mask, but a worryingly devious grin. Suddenly, Juliet wasn't able to move, as if someone had paralyzed her and pinned her on an invisible wall. She watched as the abyss around them become a vibrant Fire Nation square. Where families were laughing, friends talked_ _, and lovers enjoyed themselves. Anemoi's grin turned into an evil smirk as he commanded the other Juliet like a puppet._

 _"Get them," he said smiling madly. Her crazy grin grew and her hold on the knife tightened. Juliet saw where this was going and started struggling to move. She couldn't watch this happen again. The other Juliet started running towards the crowd like a maniac starting with a mother with twins. She jumped behind her stabbing her repeatedly in on her torso. The mother started writhing and screaming in pain as blood gushed out of her like a waterfall. The kids screamed and cried and the dad was on his knees begging her to stop. Screams started to fill the square, but some just stood in fear. Those were her next victims._

 _"NO! STOP! DON'T DO THIS TO THEM!" Juliet screeched desperately, as she watched everyone die. She felt her heart slam against her ribcage and a strong pang of nausea in her stomach, as she thrashed against this invisible forcefield even harder. However, her cries were in vain as it only caused Anemoi to laugh tauntingly. She watched in horror at the massacre in front of her. She watched as the vibrant square turned into a battlefield, littered with corpses, blood, and gore. Her head started to spin, unable to comprehend what had happened. The other Juliet lied down and bathed in their blood until her body was soaked while letting out a delirious laugh. Then, uncle Iroh and Zuko emerged from the distance. Juliet felt sweat drench her shirt for she was becoming increasingly fearful. Iroh and Zuko stood in front of her defiantly._

 _"You must stop this, Juliet," Iroh said sternly._

 _"What happened to you?" Zuko asked in disbelief and sadness._

 _The other Juliet frowned. For a heart beat, the insanity left her eyes and she looked at them with a pained expression. It looked like as if she didn't want to hurt them. She was about to let go of the knife when Anemoi flew to her side, whispered a few things angrily, and returned back to his spot. Juliet tried and failed to close her eyes. She couldn't take it anymore. Her brain scarred was at these memories. Her knees felt_ _weak. Her guts were twisted in_ _anxiety. Her bones were shaking. Her muscles were paralyzed. Her breathing was moving at abnormal, inconsistent rates. This was another her, but she felt like she was doing it. Her heart tightened, she was the cause of all this destruction._

 _The other Juliet's features changed back into her maniacal smile. She simply just threw the dagger landing it onto Zuko's forehead. Juliet's heart stopped when she saw her brother drop to the ground. Consequently, Iroh looked at his fallen nephew and everyone else, then let out a cry of despair and rage that shook the earth. Juliet saw hope leave him and sorrow take its stead. He fell to his knees waiting for his fate to be given. Her heart shattered when she saw her uncle in this state. Juliet didn't pick up the dagger from Zuko's head, instead taking one out of her blood-soaked boot. It was the same little dagger he allowed her to have after his return from Ba Sing Se. The other Juliet ran towards him swiftly and as she raised her hand-_

Juliet woke up drenched in sweat and tears. She looked around and found herself on Appa with the gaang softly snoring around her. They were just flying, she tried reassuring herself. She scrambled through her bag to find a mirror. Once she found it she shakily held it and looked at her reflection. Although she looked fine all she could see is that other, crazy Juliet. In fear, she threw the mirror off Appa, making it fall through the clouds and into the sea. She willed her heart beat to become even again as she ran her fingers through her soaked her. Spirits! What had she just witnessed? She didn't want to think about it- about what it could possibly mean. She buried her hands in her face and tired to forget about it. Tried and failed. All she could see was the dead eyes staring back at her and blood coating her hands. All she could hear were the pained screams of her people abruptly stop. It had all been because of her. A wave of nausea hit her so hard, she thought she was going to vomit right then and there.

"Are you okay?" Aang's voice rang through the air. She sat up and looked at him. She must've awakened him.

"Y-yeah, I-I.. 'm-m f-f-fine," she choked out. Aang's looked at her

"Julie,t you really don't look or sound fine at all. Do you want to talk about it?"Aang's insisted. Aang's stepped out of the driver's seat and sat beside her. She looked at him with eyes so full of fear. She didn't say anything, but she grabbed his waist closer to her and sobbedson his shoulder. Aang's eyes widened in surprise, but held her close to him, trying to comfort her. She continued sobbing until her voice became hoarse and weak. It broke his heart to see her like this, and he wondered what kind of nightmare could make her this way. She continued sobbing quietly until she fell asleep on his shoulder. He sighed, he's experienced how terrifying nightmares are first hand, but none ever startled him that much. Not wanting to wake her, he let her sleep on his shoulder and went back to sleep with her on his mind.

* * *

Katara woke up annoyed. She woke up very annoyed when she saw Aang and Juliet sleeping close together. Too close for her liking.

"Should we wake them up now?" Katara asked Sokka for what felt like the hundredth time.

"Katara for the last time let them sleep! What's your problem with them? Jealous?" Sokka smirked.

"I'm not jealous! I just think we should wake them before we arrive," she huffed.

"We still need a while before we're even close to the island. So, for the last time, leave them be!" Sokka replied aggravated. He continued sharpening his boomerang, as Katara sat silently. She was not jealous. It just bothered her that Juliet was sleeping so close to Aang. Didn't they hear about personal space? Why did it matter to her so much who Aang wanted to sleep next to? She didn't. Not her.

Although, maybe she could convince Juliet to stay away from Aang, she thought with a growing smile, but then stopped her trail of thought. How could she do that to her friend? She didn't even know if she was actually serious about it. She grabbed her sewing equipment and started mending some of their clothes. One day she would ask her about it.

* * *

When Aang woke up he found himself looking at a sleeping Juliet. He frowned. He still didn't know what had gotten her so scared like that. He sighed and slowly stood up, careful not wake her. He stretched his arms and legs when Katara commented.

"So, lover boy awakens," she said, her voice unusually icy. Aang rubs the back of his neck and flushed.

"Oh! It's not like that! Really!" Aang turned red and rubbed the back of his neck, flustered."

" Not too long before reaching Fire Nation territory , I think," Sokka replied from the driver's seat. They heard Juliet wake up and look around until she met Aang's eyes and offered him a weak smile. He grinned back, but his voice was laced with concern when he asked her if she slept well.

Her chest tightened when she met his gaze. She wanted to tell him, very much, and although the rational part of her brain was screaming that she shouldn't trust him so easily, she found herself nodding and saying

"I'll tell you about it later,"

He smiled at her softly and nodded "Anytime you feel like talking, I'll be there," he said quietly. She found herself chest warming at his understanding nature.

"Uh..guys? We have trouble!"Sokka exclaimed. Everyone looked down to find Zuko's ship gaining on them.

"I think it's about to get worse!" Katara yelled eyeing the blockade of Fire Nation ships ahead.

"Let me drive." he grabbed the reigns and called up to move faster while dodging the constant rain of his fireballs. Juliet however, looked surprised.

"Is that...?" she trailed off.

"Your brother trying to kill us? Yeah, yeah it is," Katara said. Juliet flinched at her hostility. Their conversation was interrupted by one of Zuko's fireballs heading straight towards them. A newfound sense of determination overcame Juliet. She jumped up while putting her fists on top of each other and made a giant fire sword.

* * *

Juliet swiftly slices the fireball and begins hurtling towards her brother's ship. She decided that it was time to stop this. She needed to buy the gaang more time and they wouldn't be able to make it with both the blockade and Zuko harassing them. She would provide as a distraction. Maybe even convince her brother to back off, even better, switch sides. She snorted at the idea, Zuko was much too stubborn for that. She pushed her thoughts to the back of her mind as she focused on safely landing. She couldn't see as clearly from the smoke covered her, but she could start seeing the ground. She used her airbending to slow her fall, as she made a loud clang when she hit the metallic deck. She used her airbending to dissipate the smoke covering her and revealed herself. She saw the shock on their faces and suddenly felt her courage disappear. She sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck and gave an awkward smile.

"Hey...bro. Long time no see, right? How've you been? Look I know-"

"You're with the Avatar?! How? When?!" he exclaimed. She when he met his widening eyes, she saw the hot raging swirl of emotion flickering in his Amber eyes.

"Okay, I know this is a bit surprising but I...I ran away, Zuko. A bit after you...well left I couldn't take it anymore so I fled, " she said vaguely not really wanting to explain exactly what happened. She knew that in his sate he'll never listen to her anyway. She looked at her uncle. His eyes widened with understanding, he was the only one who knew what was happening, but after he left no one else tried to defend her.

"I can't believe you! I thought you were on our side! But, you're just a treacherous fool!" he spat. Hurt flickered on her face as her stomach tightened. Three years ago she was his brave fire-breathing sister, now she was a treacherous fool. He couldn't mean it. There had to be a part of him that loved her just like she loved him. She struggled to keep her face neutral.

"Watch your mouth, big brother," Juliet replied calmly, appearing to be level-headed, but she was seething inside "You have no idea what I've been through."

"You, Juliet, have no right to talk to me like that! You're a royal! Not a scum like them! Father would-"

She stopped listening, as if she'd been pulled under water. _Father!?_ Did he really care about what there _Father thought?!_ The thought alone caused flames to flicker at her fingertips and boil in her veins. She let herself explode.

"Father is the reason I left, Zuko! When will you open your eyes? Our nation, our government, our rule, it's nothing more than propaganda and corruption. They poison your mind with the idea that the Fire Nation is great," she said between gritted teeth. If he doesn't stop soon, she was going to do something she would regret. She came up with one last desperate idea.

"Why don't you join us? We could stop father's reign and restore peace and balance everywhere," she said, her voice filled with hope.

"You're insane! Betraying father, and everything we stand for... you're hardly Fire Nation! I can't even consider you as my sister! I always thought you were a snake, but now I realize you're so much worse!" He yelled at her venomously."You're not only a traitor, but a disgrace too! I'm embarrassed to be related to you!" He snarled, quaking with anger.

"Zuko!" Iroh interrupted sternly "You have said enough! She is your sister leave her alone!"

Juliet stiffened and kept her face guarded, but on the inside she was on the verge of tears. _He doesn't mean it. He doesn't mean it. He doesn't mean it._

"No! I am going to do what I should've done when I first saw her coming down. Men, seize her!"

* * *

Aang didn't know what to focus on: running the blockade, dodging the fireballs, or why the hell Juliet just jumped off of Appa. That girl is going to drive him insane, but right now he needed to focus on his friends to safety. Whilst the Water Tribe siblings clung to the saddle for dear life, Aang continued dodging the fireballs threatening to roast them all. Although Zuko's ship stopped firing once Juliet jumped he still had many more ships to worry about. He didn't ponder on Juliet for too long as one of the fireballs got dangerously close to Appa causing some of his fur to burn. However that wasn't why his stomach twisted in dread. No, it was because heard Sokka scream as he hung from the edge of the saddle. Sweat broke out right above his brow. _Think. Think. Think. How do we dodge these fireballs without throwing Sokka into the ocean?_ An idea popped into his mind. He pulled Appa high into the clouds while Katara was still struggling to pull her brother back onto the saddle. He stood up slowly and manipulated the clouds around him to come closer covering them completely. He admitted it would've been a better cover if he knew how to waterbend, but it was passable. The fireballs started shooting blindly and therefore weren't a threat anymore. Consequently, he rushed to help haul Sokka up as they safely passed the blockade. Once Sokka was safe and sound, he eyed a familiar looking island not too far from them.

"That's it! That's the island!" Aang yelled triumphantly as he sat back down on Appa's head and steered the bison, landing on the island safely. Only then did he allow himself to wo"rry about his firebending friend.

"Do you know why Juliet jumped off like that?" Aang asked Katara, worried on what might've happened to her. Although, she was powerful enough to manipulate and control such an enormous amount of fire, he deduced from what he's just witnessed, it may not be enough to escape Zuko.

"I don't know," Katara confessed. When she met Aang's gaze so full of anxious worry, jealousy blinded her. "What if she...she betrayed us?"

Aang looked at her incredulously "Juliet wouldn't do that," he said firmly. No, he didn't believe for a second that his friend would do that. If anything, he believed that she'd be doing it to help them. Katara shrugged as she pet Appa and cooed to the bison.

"Traitor or no, we still need to go in," Sokka interrupted. Aang and Katara nodded as they began to make their way towards the temple they saw five men dressed in red robes approach them.

"We are the Fire Sages," One of them spoke."Guardians of the temple of the Avatar."

"Great! I'm the Avatar," Aang said Fire Sage smiled cruelly.

"We know."

Then flames shot out of his and his companions' hands. Aang used his staff to dissipate the flames to protect his friends.

"Run! I'll hold the m off!" He yelled frantically. Not seeing whether they obeyed or not he continued dodging and blocking the blaze from the Fire Sages.

This was a lot harder than he expected.

* * *

Juliet examined the filthy walls of her dingy cell and iron shackles still not believing what had happened. She couldn't believe that her own brother had just imprisoned her. She couldn't feel anything. In fact once the words left his mouth to seize her she didn't even put up a fight. His words still rang in her ears.

 _You're just a treacherous fool._

She squeezed her eyes shut forcing the memory out. First a scarring dream and now this? This was not a good day for her.

 _I'm embarassed to be related to you._

She couldn't feel anything. Not anger nor sadness. She was numb from inside out. Her brother, her dear brother, had said those things. The closest thing to family she had. Gone. In a span of minutes they've turned from family to mortal enemies.

 _You're not only a traitor but a disgrace too._

So, she just stared at the walls blankly, her mind so empty except for the few words her brother had spat. It repeated in her head like an ending chorus. Taunting her. Haunting her.

 _Traitor. Fool. Scum. Disgrace. Embarrassment._

Suddenly she heard footsteps coming towards her capturing her attention. She found uncle Iroh walking towards her with a tray of food in his hands. She snapped out of her daze. She would not allow her uncle to see her like this. So, with every shred of bravado in her, she gave her uncle a lazy grin and said,

"Being visited by the great General himself. To what do I owe this pleasant surprise uncle?"

Her uncle did not answer. He dropped to his knees and put the food tray in front of her. He held her shackled hands and looked up at her. His eyes filled with sorrow. Juliet's throat closed up.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered "I shouldn't have left. I should have stayed to protect you."

"Zuko needed you more than me," she replied. Her hurt and sadness must've shown on her face because her uncle said.

"He did not mean what he said. Zuko was shocked and he turned it to anger."

"It felt like he did," she said quietly.

Iroh sighed and gripped her hands tighter as something metallic slide into her fingers. She smiled slowly as realization hit her. Her friends were still out there fighting. Zuko and Zhao must have caught up with them. She momentarily forgot about Zuko's words and focused on getting out. Indeed, the metal in her hands were in fact keys to get her out. She gave her uncle a grin as he strode away.

This was going to be fun.

* * *

Sokka hid behind one of the pillars as the Fire Sages and Zuko entered. He noticed that Zuko didn't bring Juliet with him, meaning that she was not in his good graces. Relief and dread built in his stomach. Of course he was very doubtful that Juliet betrayed them, but having it confirmed made him feel better. He groaned inwardly at the complication it would cause. Because of her stupidity they would have to go save her. His train of thought was interrupted by five fire blasts blasting at the door. He smiled, Katara's plan, he begrudgingly admitted, had worked.

However the triumph was not long lived when Aang appeared with his hands pinned by Zuko.

"Quickly! Close the gate," Zuko exclaimed. Suddenly, he and Katara were surrounded by soldiers that gripped them tightly and tied them against the pillar. Sokka hoped and prayed for a miracle as he saw the door close. As if in answer, Juliet came sprinting through and yelled,

"Surprise!"

She lept and hurtled towards Zuko faster than a cannonball, tackling him to the ground. This gave Aang enough time to slip through the door. Zuko snarled at her and she grinned back.

"You didn't really think that cell or your pathetic guards would keep me locked for long, did you?" she said tauntingly. She gracefully stood up as she was faced with Zhao's men. She grinned wickedly at their tense faces and put her hands up in surrender.

"Don't worry boys, I've already served my purpose. Congratulations Zhao, it seems you have caught me again," she said eloquently. Zhao looked after and growled.

"You won't be smiling when I'm through with you. Tie her and the Prince together."

Her smile didn't falter when she said, "None of you stand a chance."

Because Juliet can feel the amount of energy emanating from that door. She had no doubt that when Aang came out he won't be in his normal form. So she would sit tied next to her brother, even though she knew she could defeat them all single-handedly. A few minutes later the door burst open revealing Avatar Roku standing before them, intending on destroying the temple. She felt her ropes burn away as she tried to find a way out. She heard muffled cries and scurrying as her vision blurred by the dizzying heat. Too close, she realized. She had been standing too close to Roku's heat. She felt herself stumble and fall. She was going to die today.

She felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist. Who could it have been? She was pretty sure Sokka and Katara already escaped. Who else cared for her? Only when she was put down did she realized they were outside the temple. She looked up to find Zuko gazing back at her. His eyes were still full of hatred and...and something else. Without a word he left her and headed towards his ship. No matter she would think about it later. She spotted Aang and the Water Tribe siblings walking towards her. She must've looked just as she felt because Sokka said,

"I take it the family reunion did not go well."

"It hurt a lot more than I wanted it to," she stated weakly. Sokka and Katara and Aang looked at her with an empathetic expression and hugged her. She returned the embrace without a word. She realized that they had become her family. They walked to the flying bison and flew into the air when Aang stated,

"Guys," he swallowed hard."we have a problem."

* * *

 **AN: Okay! I really hope you did enjoy this chapter. Again I am so so sorry for the long delay. I had so many things to do the last months and it was overwhelming. However, I will be continuing this fic now that I am free for the bulk of the summer. Reviews are appreciated!**


	6. Scars

**Sorry for the wait! I hope you enjoy this as much as the last chapters. ALSO, I am conflicted with who Juliet should be shipped with! At first, I was thinking Aang...but I'm not so sure anymore. So I'll put up a poll to see what you guys think! I'd appreciate it if you take some of your time to go to my profile and pick who you ship Juliet with.**

 **P.s: I don't own any of the Characters of A: TLA except for my OC.**

* * *

-Scars-

Juliet watched worriedly as Aang paced back and forth as they flew. He's been like this for most of the hour, but she didn't know what to say to him. She didn't know how to comfort him. What could possibly make you feel better after you realize the fate of the entire world is on your shoulders. She couldn't begin to imagine the pressure he's feeling, much less think of anything truly reassuring.

"Would you sit down? If Appa hits something, you'll go flying off!" Sokka joked. "What's bothering you anyway?"

"It's what Avatar Roku said: I have to master all four elements before the comet arrives. That's at the end of the summer!" Aang replied worriedly.

"Well, it only took you a hundred and twelve years to master airbending. I'm sure you could master three elements in a few months," Sokka muttered sarcastically.

The comment did nothing but make Aang even more distressed. Juliet really hated seeing him so anxious. Without thought, her hand grabbed his, catching his attention. She gave it a comforting squeeze and urged him to sit down. As he sat down beside her, as she tried her best to think of something both optimistic and realistic.

"Don't listen to him, Aang. We'll figure it out. You're not alone in this," she said. He looked into her eyes and nodded. She was surprised when she saw his tense muscles relax a little. She didn't think anything she said would have any effect on him.

"You know, if you're this anxious, I could always teach you what I know," Katara offered. Aang face lit up as he faced Katara excitedly.

"You'd do that?" Aang asked her, practically jumping up and down in enthusiasm.

"That's a great idea, Katara. We should find a good source of water first, you could even show me some airbending tricks. How does that sound?" Juliet smiled.

"Yeah, we could find a puddle for you guys to splash in," Sokka agreed from the driver's seat.

After a few moments of searching, the gaang spotted a great area to practice waterbending. It was a beautiful waterfall that leads to a river bank, with nearby trees and a vast green land. Aang and Katara admired the huge waterfall, they're excitement growing by the second. On the other hand, Sokka and Juliet shared a worried look. Who knows if this place is even secure enough for them not to be seen, or the attention they'll bring when Aang starts practicing. Airbending isn't any different from waterbending, technique wise anyway, and Juliet had a feeling he'll learn fast.

"Nice puddle," Sokka commented, clearly unamused.

The young firebender grinned as Appa did a belly flop on the river. Aang was about to strip to join him when Katara reminded him what they were really here for. Just as they were about to begin, Juliet interrupted them.

"What are we supposed to do?"

"How about a legendary water-wrestling match?" Sokka suggested. Juliet became uneasy at the thought, but she couldn't come up with an excuse that won't cause questions.

"I don't know..." Juliet replied a bit unsure.

"Afraid you're going to lose?" the young warrior mocked. Juliet was still uneasy, but a much more competitive side of her dominated her.

"Ha! You're on. I'd like to see your face when you lose," Juliet retorted.

As Juliet began to change into a simple black sports bra and shorts that reached about two inches above her mid-thigh, the rest of the gaang couldn't help but stare. There were deep pink scars and burns all over her toned legs, back, and abdomen. Aang felt anger he's never felt before seep into his veins. A boiling hot sensation, in such an intensity that made it hard to think. It was rage. The only thought in his head was that he wanted to destroy whoever did this to her. He will _kill_ whoever did this. The thought made him pause. He would never kill anyone. What changed? He never felt this way, even when he saw Giatsu dead. Sokka became wide-eyed as he tried not think about how she got those brutal scars. He tried not to see that these scars couldn't have come from anything except a whiplash. He tried not to think about what she might've been through to get them.

"Ready to lose?"

"How did you get those scars" Sokka blurted out without thought, causing his sister to elbow him in the ribs. Juliet froze, unable to answer. She knew they'd ask eventually, but she hasn't realized how unprepared she was to answer.

"Sokka! You can't just ask that!" Katara scolded.

"It's fine," Juliet interrupted. "You guys deserve to know."

She took a deep breath, and when she looked into their eyes all confidence left her.

"I...It was a punishment from my firebending teachers. I was an airbender and they hated it, so they gave me harsher punishments when I failed," it wasn't a complete lie. Her teachers were much harsher with her, but the young bender rarely failed to copy their moves; a prodigy just like her sister. She never made the same mistake twice, thus the number of burns received were little and minor.

Aang spoke first,"We won't let that happen again," his voice was filled with a fiery determination she's rarely heard. As the waterbenders agreed along with Aang she smiled at them and felt her chest swell with joy.

"Thanks. Now, I believe I was just about to destroy Sokka's face," she said with a sly smirk. Instantaneously, Sokka's empathetic face disappeared and was replaced by a competitive glare.

"I'd like to see you try!" he said as they jumped into the water, and Aang and Katara began their lessons.

Sokka and Juliet glared at each other in the water, waiting for each other to make the first move. Juliet decided to strike first, tackling him into the water. He responded by pushing her off him then made move to jump at her. At the last second, Juliet stepped away, causing the young warrior to trip in his confusion and sink into the water. He'd barely stood up before he found her charging at him. He kneeled down and waited for to come. Seeing what he was doing, Juliet tried to slow down, but it was too late. She ran into his shoulder, and in one motion, picked her up like a potato sack. Abruptly, an unnatural wave hit them causing both of them to topple over. After the wave had passed Juliet found herself right underneath Sokka. Sokka blinked a couple of times at the firebender before giving her an arrogant smile.

"Enjoying the view?"

Despite turning pink at this, Juliet raised a brow, before tilting his chin to the waterfall that was carrying their supplies away. Sokka jumped off of her hurriedly and went to Aang.

"Hey! Your lessons just threw our supplies down the river! And I was this close to beating her!" Sokka cried out at Aang and Katara. Beside him, Juliet crossed her arms and snorted.

"You wish." She looked out at the river and pursed her lips. "Looks like we need new supplies. I'm sure we'll be able to find a market nearby."

"Whatever," Katara muttered curtly. She was obviously in a foul mood after teaching Aang. Juliet wisely chose not to ask about it.

The group found a marketplace near a port to buy what they needed. They'd managed to buy a supply of food and tools that'll be sufficient for the time being. After they finishing with essentials Katara informed them that they had two copper pieces left, as the third was used for a bison whistle. They continued walking when a pirate's booming voice rang across the port.

"Fire Nation! Water Nation! Earth Nation! So long's a bargain's your inclination, you're welcome here!" he paused before eyeing the gaang and rushing towards them.

"You! I can tell by your strange clothes that you are travelers!" he exclaimed before pointing towards the ship with a big, fake, smile, "Can I interest you with some exotic curious?"

"Sure! What are Curios?" Aang asked confusedly.

"Useless junk we don't need right now," Juliet muttered as she tried to drag Aang away. Instead, the Avatar ripped himself away and went rushing towards the ship with Katara close behind. Sokka and Juliet groaned in unison before begrudgingly following them.

The pirate eyed Momo sitting on Aang's shoulder and thought about the money he could gain from it.

"Quite a rare species of lemur. That could fetch ya a heavy sum if you're willing to barter," he commented, causing Momo to climb Juliet's shoulder in fear. Juliet scratched the lemur's fur comfortingly as Aang declined.

Katara rushed to the pirate excitedly waving a scroll to his face. "What about this waterbending scroll? How much does it cost?' she asked.

"'Fraid I've already got a buyer unless you've got 200 gold coins on ya right now," he replied. Katara shook her head in dismay and put the scroll back on the shelf.

"It doesn't matter, Katara. We don't need the scroll anyway. Let's go," Juliet said, a bad feeling growing in her gut as the waterbender continued eyeing the scroll hungrily. She dragged Sokka away from the boomerang section despite his cries and pleas. The gaang was just about off the ship when the pirate came running after them.

"Thieves! Get back here!" he yelled at them. Following him were several other pirates all armed and furious. Juliet didn't have enough time to dwell on the word 'thieves', for Sokka was already hauling her with him, forcing her to sprint with the rest of them. Katara tried her best to slow them down by bending ice on the floor, while Aang used his airbending on a cabbage carriage causing it to fall over. Faintly, Juliet could hear the cabbage merchants cry in outrage. She ignored him while scrambling to match Sokka's pace until they reached a dead end.

"Now who will be the first to taste the steel of my blade?" the leading pirate asked menacingly. The others behind him grinning evilly as they pointed their swords at the gaang with purpose.

"Not today, loser!" Juliet exclaimed. She focused on the fabric on his shoulder and snapped her fingers, causing a small flame to appear on the leader's shoulder. As she predicted, the pirate caught sight of the flame which caused him to frantically put it out. Not paying attention to his surroundings, he tripped over the entire team behind him causing them to become a twisted human knot on the floor. The gaang took this opportunity to run back to their campsite at the waterfall.

"I used to kind look up to pirates, but those guys are awful," admitted Aang.

"I know, that's why I took this," Katara replied, flaunting the scroll smugly.

"That's why they were hell bent on hacking us up. You stole their waterbending scroll!" Sokka stated angrily.

"Sokka, where do you think they got it from? They stole it from a waterbender," the waterbender replied, insisting what she did was correct.

"That's not the point, Katara. You put us all in danger needlessly just so you could learn a few waterbending moves!" Juliet exclaimed irritably.

"It's not just for me! You know it's crucial for Aang to learn waterbending, and right now this is the best way to learn," Katara countered. Juliet straight through the 'It's for Aang' act. Her actions were completely irrational, not to mention utterly selfish, and Juliet was determined to put her in her place.

"I also know that's not why you took it! You acted on your own greed and now we have more enemies on our tail!" the double bender asserted.

"We can't change the past. We got it so we might as well use it," Aang interrupted calmly, trying to stop this from escalating. Katara's smug grin returned as she opened the scroll to try the first move. Juliet shook her head in disbelief and stood next to Sokka, clearly annoyed.

"I just want to try the first move then it's all yours," she told Aang. She handed him the scroll trying to match the position displayed. "Okay...'The Single Water Whip' looks doable." They watched as she raised a stream of water only to end up whipping her forehead. Sokka burst out laughing when he saw her red forehead.

"What's so funny?" Katara questioned peevishly.

"I'm sorry but you deserve that," he said amusedly before turning to Aang. "You've been duped. She's only interested in teaching herself."

"That's not true! I'll give it to Aang once I master the water whip!" she argued.

"You looked a bit stiff," Juliet observed. "Why don't you try being a little more fluid when changing positions-"

"What would _you_ know about waterbending? You're just some scarred freak!" Katara screamed.

"Katara!" the boys cried out in unison.

"What?" she replied angrily. The anger suddenly faded as Katara saw Juliet gritting her teeth trying to fight back tears.

"Omigosh Juliet I'm so-"

Before Katara could continue her apology, Juliet turned on her heel and sprinted towards the woods. She ran and ran until she couldn't any longer and collapsed onto a tree. There she let herself sob with her face in her hands. How does it that everyone she gets close to becomes against her. She pulled up her worn leggings to view some of her scars. Katara's words brought painful memories of people who saw her scars. They looked at her as though her wounds were her fault. LIke having them made her a monster. She fell asleep thinking about it, then had the most vivid dream of her life

 _"No, let go of me!" Katara shouted. Juliet looked out and found Katara being attacked by the same pirate from before. Katara managed to successfully water whip the pirate only to end up pinned by Zuko._

 _"I'll save you from the pirates," he paused, "Tell me where the avatar is and I won't hurt you or your brother."_

 _The pirate captain and his group gathered across from Zuko and watched him interrogate the waterbender._ _  
_

 _"Go jump in a river," she barked back._

 _"Try to understand. I need to capture him in order to retrieve something I lost. My honor. Maybe I can exchange him for something you lost," he offered. The prince of the Fire Nation took Katara's necklace out of his pocket and dangled it in front of her._

 _"My mother's necklace! Where'd you find it?" she questioned._

 _"Tell me where he is," Zuko insisted._

 _"Never!" Katara replied defiantly._

 _"Enough of this necklace garbage! We want our scroll," the captain interrupted. Zuko snarled at them and produced a flame from his hand, putting the scroll on top of it. At the sight of the precious merchandise close to ash, the pirates backed down._

 _"I wonder how much money this is worth. A lot by the looks of it. Now you help me find what I want, you'll get what you want. Now, search for the boy in the area and bring him back to me," Zuko commanded. The pirates scurried away looking for Aang..._

Juliet's eyes snapped open as she scrambled to stand up. She had the strongest feeling that this dream was real, but that wasn't possible. But...what if it was? She had to make sure they were okay. She ran out of the woods and into the area of her dream. Her panic took away all thought until she realized she was right in front of Zuko and the pirates. Her dream was true. There was Katara tied to a tree just like in her dream, but this time Sokka and Aang were tied next to her. She composed herself and took a defensive position. When she met Zuko's hateful gaze she felt the wounds from their last encounter reopen. She ignored them. Zuko made his decision. She was making hers.

"Let them go, Zuko," Juliet ordered.

"You know I can't do that, Jules," he says. Reminding her of the old nickname provides a comfort of some sorts. He only called her that when he still had his eye and she was happy. A part of him still cares for her. She shook her head and ordered herself to focus. Then her dream hit her. She turned to look at the pirates with a raised brow.

"You pirates are even dimmer than you look. Are you really going to give him the Avatar for a stupid piece of parchment?" Juliet asked them in wonder.

"Your friend's the Avatar?" the pirate asked eyeing Aang.

"Sure is! Bet he could give you a lot more than that scroll in the black market," Sokka commented.

"Shut your mouths, peasants!" Zuko hissed at them with warningly.

However, it was too late. A look of resolve crossed the captain's face as he said to Zuko

"Keep the scroll. We'll get a hundred once we hand over the boy."

Chaos ensued between them and Juliet took the chance to burn her friends' ropes. They looked at her gratefully before Katara hugged her.

"I'm so, so sorry I said that, Juliet. It was completely out of line and outright mean. I didn't mean any of it," she said sincerely, remorse written all over her face. Juliet smiled softly at Katara and nodded as a sign that she accepted her apology. She turned serious again motioning them to head for the ship before they notice their absence. Once they arrived at the ship Katara was confused.

"How are we going to push the ship into the water?" she asked.

"I'm sure two waterbenders'll do the trick," Juliet replied winking at Aang and Katara. Pirates tried to enter their ship but Juliet created a wall of fire that allowed none to pass.

Aang and Katara manage to push the boat into the water, but the pirates and Zuko were now ramming into them with another boat. In addition to that, the boat was head straight to the waterfall despite Aang and Katara's attempts to stop it. In desperation, Aang blew on his bison whistle. After a few moments of nothing, Appa appeared allowing them to jump on his back and fly away safely just as the boat tipped over the waterfall. The gaang sighed in relief as the danger passed. Katara took the moment of peace to apologize to Aang for the way she acted and he accepted the apology gracefully.

"Now that's done let's talk about your nickname. 'Jules'," Sokka said with air quotes. Juliet's eyebrows flew up.

"What about it?" she asked wearily.

"I think I can come up with a better one," he replied playfully. Juliet snorted.

"Okay, give it a try."

"How about JuJu," he suggested causing the gaang to burst out in laughter as he continued giving a name more ridiculous than the last.


	7. Jet

**So sorry! Please forgive the wait hopefully this chapter will redeem me!**

 **P.s: I own nothing et cetera et cetera except for Juliet.**

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

-Jet-

Taking a break from travelling, the gaang began to land into a forest. Juliet sunk her fingers into Appa's fur, murmuring to him soothingly. The gaang has barely rested for a few minutes before they heard a screeching yowl of pain that sounded distinctly lemur. Worry spiked into Juliet's veins. Momo's yelling makes it clear the gaang won't be able to rest any longer. She was about to get comfortable too. Sighing in resignation she hopped off Appa as Sokka rushed over to her from his resting spot.

"Was it just me or did that sound exactly like Momo?" He asked, searching the area for their furry friend. Juliet nodded and dragged a hand through her hair when they spotted Aang and Katara at the edge of the forest, waving them over. Juliet shook her head and motioned Sokka to go first as he grumbled quietly his complaints.

After they searched the forest thoroughly they found Momo with half a dozen hog monkeys, each tied in a metal trap up in the tall trees. Juliet noticed how the metalwork was distinctly Fire Nation. That nearly confirmed that they were nearby. Momo called out again, this time with the six other hog monkeys following suit.

"We need to help them," Aang said, his eyes narrowing in determination. Sokka groaned and rolled his eyes as he watched Aang as he flew up using his airbending and tried unlocking Momo's cage.

"This is going to take forever!" Sokka cried. Juliet continued examining the traps. Her uncle always told her that the most effective traps are usually very easy to undo; it was one of the weaknesses in Fire Nation traps. She bent down and searched for something-anything that be connected to the traps. Then for a second, something glinted in the sunlight at the base of a tree. It was a hook with a rope tied to it. Bingo.

"Um... Juliet? What are you doing?" Katara asked, perplexed as she watched her friend crouching near the tree.

"Avoiding a waste of time," Juliet muttered back as she grabbed her uncle's dagger from her boot. The same one she saw from that nightmare not too long ago. It had Earth Nation symbols engraved on the hilt with gold which, according to her uncle, meant _'If you are going through hell, keep going.'_ Shaking out of the memory, she quickly snapped the rope with her knife and placed it back into her boot. The meta traps fell simultaneously to the floor, allowing all the hog monkeys to scurry away. As Momo's trap fell, Aang used his staff to soften his fall as the little lemur jumped into Juliet's arms and purred lightly.

"...Or you could do that," Aang commented.

"How'd you know?" Katara asked curiously. Juliet jerked her head towards the traps.

"Fire Nation metalwork. They're nearby," The firebender looked at Sokka who nodded gravely.

"We better get moving. Let's pack up and leave before they find out we're here."

The rest of the gaang nodded in agreement and started heading back to their campsite. As Juliet and Katara finished packing the last of their supplies, Sokka spotted Aang on top of Appa's head, ready to fly.

"What do you think you're doing? There's no way we're flying this time!" Sokka said, shaking his head in objection.

"What? Why not, Sokka?" Aang asked, his brows furrowed in confusion.

"Zuko's always been able to find us every time, probably because of Appa; he's just too noticeable," Sokka stated matter-of-factly. Aang and Katara cried out in outrage and protested against the fact. Juliet crossed her arms and looked at Appa thoughtfully. She can see his point but staying on the ground might put them at a greater disadvantage than they know.

"Sokka, that might not be a good idea. Zuko travels by ship, and we're a good distance away from the nearest ocean; it's unlikely Zuko would spot Appa from here. We don't even know for sure that there's a camp here. We'd just be wasting time and energy," Juliet reasoned with him while Aang and Katara nodded vigorously along with the firebender's claim. Sokka put a hand on his chin thoughtfully as he contemplated the possibilities in his head then shook his head.

"No. It's better to be safe than sorry." He replied firmly.

The Avatar and Juliet saw the stubbornness in on his face and realized that he wasn't going to change his mind. Walking it is, Juliet thought mournfully. But, Katara refused to back down.

"Who made you the boss?" She sniped furiously.

"I'm not the boss, I'm the leader. Besides I'm the oldest and the most mature one here so I should decide what's best for the team." He said waving his boomerang around.

"The most mature?! You call your boomerang 'Spiky' and you can't even sleep without it!" Katara pointed out with a smirk. The firebender covered her mouth with her hand, trying to contain her giggles at the imagination of the young man standing a foot away from her cuddling with a boomerang. Sokka glared at Juliet, his cheeks reddening slightly as he flicked her nose in an answer. Hissing, Juliet batted his hand away from her still chuckling at the thought.

"Hey! I just have a bad feeling about this and my instincts are never wrong." He snapped. Aang hopped off Appa and placed himself between the two siblings.

"Hey, it's fine. We can walk for a little while. Maybe it'll be fun!" Aang said optimistically.

And that was that.

Of course, until the gaang walked for ten minutes through the forest. Juliet and Sokka walked side by side while Katara and Aang lagged behind constantly complaining about _everything._ It was really getting under the firebender's skin.

"Ugh, walking sucks," Aang repeated for about the fifth time. "How does anyone get around without a flying bison?"

"Maybe you should ask Sokka's instincts!" Katara yelled loudly from behind the Guardian Spirit.

"Ha ha, guys," Sokka responded, sounding as fed up as she was with their whining.

"This pack is too heavy too!" Aang continued in an utterly peevish tone that it took restraint to bite back the growl building in her throat. Children. Aang and Katara were supposedly older than her and yet acting half her age. Sokka, however, did not take any lessons in manners or discipline, did not bother to hide his sneer as he snapped at them, his patience finally breaking.

"I'll carry your spirits-damned pack if you would just shut your-" he stopped mid-sentence as he pulled apart some bushes to reveal an encampment of Fire Nation soldiers staring back at them. Great, Juliet thought. Exactly what they needed right now. Juliet immediately took out her twin swords and took a defensive position shielding the rest of the gaang from the soldiers that had blocked all exits. She surveyed the camp swiftly. There had to be at least thirty of them. The black-haired girl cursed under her breath as sweat beaded on her temple. Even she wouldn't be able to fight them all and make sure that her friends were alright. The leader of the camp walked up to her with a vicious grin on his face. Sokka pushed past her and spoke to the leader before he could open his mouth.

"Hey man, if you move out of the way, we won't hurt you," Sokka said with a confident smirk on his face. Katara looked at him with a baffled expression.

"Uh...Sokka? What do you think you're doing?" The waterbender whispered to him trying to keep her cool.

"Bluffing?" Sokka replied hesitantly, worry clear on his face. Juliet looked around for something-anything-that can help them. Just as she'd thought that she saw a rustling in the trees, an arrow whizzed from behind the leader, making him collapse instantly. Katara gasped out in shock and pointed towards a figure in the trees.

"Look!"

The gaang watched the blurry figure fall from trees, unsheathing two hooked swords and skillfully took down the soldiers. He was soon followed by three others. They all unleashed themselves on the camp and Juliet assumed there was one more in the trees because there were still arrows sniping at the Fire Nation's men.

The act snapped her into action. Without thought, she let herself explode into the steel of her blades trying as much as possible not to use her bending in front of strangers. She swiped her legs at one of the soldiers as another attempted to swipe his sword at her back. She expertly blocked his blow and spun around lifting her leg to a powerful blow to the side of his helmet. She slid between the legs of one of the charging soldiers and grabbed his leg, making him fall face first as she quickly jumped up between another pair of soldiers and slammed their helmets together. As subtly as she could she blocked the blows of three others with powerful airstrike making it look like it was her swords. Eventually, they failed to keep up and ended up tripping and striking each other.

The firebender barely turned around before finding two soldiers with their swords out. They swiftly attacked her viciously as she parried every strike of their swords. However, no matter how talented and experienced she was, the black haired girl would never be able to match their brute force and her arms started to ache under their strikes as she started to lose speed and strength. Eventually, she wasn't able to completely block one of their swords as it slightly but into her side. Hissing, she quickly slid underneath one of the soldier's legs to escape a gruesome demise. The two men turned around as sweat slid down her jaw and struggled to slow her breaths. She would not be able to make it without bending. The soldiers snickered at her as she closed her eyes and inhaled. As she exhaled she dropped her swords and flipped back, causing a rumbling wall of fire in her wake towards the two that were wearing her down and three others that decided to join them. As they barely dodged it, she did not give them time to react before smacking them all together with harsh winds. Finally, all of them done for.

When the fight was over she nearly fell to her knees as exhaustion slammed into her. She wiped the sweat from her eyes and picked up her swords. She turned to find Katara and Aang making googly eyes at the guy, who was about Sokka's age, with the hooked swords. With his tanned, ruggedly handsome face and charming smile, it was little surprised. Only Sokka was looking at her his eyes were widened in shock and awe. He opened his mouth to say something but a large hand grabbed her by the hair and pulled her up causing a yelp of pain to escape her lips. Aang turned around and his smile faded as he took in the situation this friend was in. He rushed over and looked at the person holding her pleadingly.

"Pipsqueak, let her go! She's our friend." Aang stated. The guy he called Pipsqueak tightened his hold on her hair and tears of pain sprouted in her eyes.

"Her? But she's one of _them._ " Pipsqueak's deep voice spat the words as though they left a bad taste in his mouth. Juliet saw Katara look at the handsome young man, who she assumed was in charge.

"Yes she's from the Fire Nation but she's not like them! She's with us, Jet" Katara said firmly. The young man-Jet-looked at her, and for a split second she saw pure hatred shine in his eyes before he returned to his charming smile so quickly she might've imagined it.

"Of course! Any friend of the Avatar is a friend of ours." Jet said and nodded at Pipsqueak who finally let go of her. She fell on her stomach, her head still throbbing painfully as she made a sound between a sigh of relief and a surprised cry. She spit out dirt and a bit of blood as Katara rushed over and helped her up.

"Jet, this is Juliet and the whiny one over there is my brother, Sokka." Katara introduced. Jet gave her close-lipped smile and introduced himself and his 'Freedom Fighters'. The Duke was a little boy, standing next to him was Pipsqueak, an impressively tall and muscled preteen, both of them were currently talking to Aang. Sneers, who was a chubby kid in green, was transporting barrels of blasting jelly making sure, upon Jet's warning, not to mix it with the barrels of jelly candy. Smellerbee, a young girl about her age with bushy black hair, glared at her viciously, her eyes full of untamed rage. It was clear that the firebender wasn't particularly welcome among them. She couldn't really blame them, after all the damage her nation has caused.

A hand gripped her arm, forcing her out of her thoughts. She whirled around to find Sokka looking down at her, being nearly six inches taller than her, his face aloof but his eyes betraying worry.

"You're bleeding," he said tightly, pointing at the side of her shirt which was slightly soaked in blood. Juliet shrugged, she'd hardly noticed. Sokka sighed and shot her a look.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong or will I have to continue watching you sulk," he said exasperated, his expression uncharacteristically serious. Juliet looked at him for a moment before slumping.

"I don't think I'm welcome here."She breathed out finally, waving towards the Freedom Fighters who were transporting things as they sat down, shoulders touching, on a nearby log.

"What do you mean? Of course, we're welcome. Jet and his buddies looked pretty excited to see us-" Sokka started.

"No, Sokka." Juliet cut off bitterly. "I meant that _I'm_ not welcome here. _I'm_ Fire Nation. _I'm_ the bad guy. _You_ are brave people from the Southern Water Tribe travelling with the Avatar. When people see _you,_ they see _heroes._ All people see when they look at me is the destruction of their country and the deaths of their loved ones at the hands of _my father._ " She put her head in her hands and sighed ruefully, her voice cracking as she continued."I just-I can never figure out a way to _show_ them that not everyone from my Nation is evil."

Sokka stayed silent for a long while before saying "So what?". The statement made the young firebender look up. She found Sokka staring off into the distance as though he could see through the trees-see past the oceans. "So what if people think so? If you know it's not true and if we know it's not true, why does it matter what anyone else thinks? You've helped save lives with us. You went against your father to help what's right. If people can't see you for who you are, then you shouldn't feel the need to _prove_ to them anything, because they will mock and degrade your efforts no matter what you do."

Juliet cocked her head thoughtfully. "You sound like you're talking from experience." Sokka glanced back at her and nodded slightly. "I-"

"Hey! Sokka! Juliet! Come on! Jet invited us over to see his hideout!" Katara yelled out excitedly as she and Aang trailed behind Jet like lost puppies. Sokka sighed and stood up and sighed as the bad feeling in his gut increased considerably.

"I've got a bad feeling about this,' he muttered under his breath as he helped Juliet up. The young firebender looked inclined to agree but said nothing as she tried to ignore the hateful glares of the rebels. Sokka held back his growl as they sneered at them as they passed. Even after defeating half of those men for them, they still consider Juliet a threat. He would have to watch them very closely.

A few minutes later Jet and the gaang approached the base of a tree.

"We're here!" Jet declared.

"Quite an impressive hideout, Jet. I'm sure you worked really hard on it." Sokka said sarcastically as he waved towards the endless pattern of trees. Jet and Sokka locked eyes as the rogue scoffed.

"Just hold on, boomerang boy," Jet said as he snatched a rope that fell from above and handed it to him. The second Sokka held on he was dragged into the bushy treetops, his screams echoing behind. Jet grabbed another and offered it to Aang.

"I'll be fine on my own," Aang declined politely.

He then looked at Katara and flashed her a charming smile. But the cockiness in his eyes and posture, made it look rehearsed-fake even. Like he's done this a thousand times to a thousand different girls who have little worth to him than the last. But Katara doesn't see it, as her eyes widened and colour rose to her cheeks. Soon they were gliding up together, Jet looking at the trees heroically and Katara looking up at him amorously, it reminded her so much of Fire Nation theatre it was almost comical. Almost, but not quite, because they had all flown to the sky with ever looking back twice at their companion who was still on the ground. She ignored the twist of hurt and betrayal she felt in her gut and fisted her hands. There was no way she was going to let Jet get rid of her easily. Rockets of fire pushed between her fisted fingerless gloves as she shot up to the sky after them.

Once she was high enough, Juliet was able to see the large network of bridges and wooden houses spread across the trees. It was almost like a massive tree house. She landed safely next to the gaang and Jet.

Jet looked behind his back, his eyes darkened as his lips stretched into a thin smile. "Ah, Juliet, you made it. Perfect," he said in a voice that suggested that it was anything but. The firebender tensed slightly but otherwise kept her face carefully blank as they followed the rogue fighter across a plank that led to another tree.

"Why does the Fire Nation want to find you?" Katara asked Jet.

"I guess you could say I've been causing them a little trouble. See, they took over a nearby Earth Kingdom town a few years back," Jet replied.

"We've been ambushin' their troops, cutting off their supply lines, and doing anything we can to mess with 'em," Pipsqueak explained.

"One day, we'll drive the Fire Nation out of here for good and free that town," Jet told them.

"That's so brave," Katara raved excitedly. Juliet narrowed her eyes at him. She knew for a fact that the _entire_ village was Fire Nation; it was raided and inhabited long before the War. The way it sounded to her, Jet was going to 'drive out' the entire town itself.

"Yeah, nothing's braver than a guy in a treehouse," Sokka mumbled sarcastically. Katara shot him a sour look behind her shoulder. Sokka just rolled his eyes and looked around the hideout.

"And all of you live here?" Juliet asked mainly to move the attention away from Sokka's rude comment. The last thing they needed was to offend the people who'd done nothing threatening so far. However Jet didn't answer and looked at Katara as though the firebender didn't exist.

"Longshot over there? His town got burned down by the Fire Nation. And we found the Duke trying to steal our food I don't think he ever really had a home," Jet continued on his confident smile widening when he looked at the waterbender. Juliet gripped her forearms, temper flaring. She caught Aang's eyes, who were wide as he realized the attitude Jet showed her.

"And what about you?" Katara questioned, unaware of the disrespect Jet just showed her. Jet stopped causing Katara to stop behind. Juliet didn't stop to hear whatever sentimental trick he had in store for her friend; she walked briskly passed because she wasn't entirely sure she could control her agitation anymore.

A few minutes later the gaang and the other rebels were gathered around a large sheet where food was spread out. She was sitting between Sokka and Aang while Katara sat on the front right in front of where Jet was giving a speech she was not bothered to listen to. Despite her lack of appetite, she forced down a loaf of bread and cheese, knowing full well that she hadn't eaten anything today as the crowed cheered and booed at his speech accordingly. When he was done he sat between Katara and Sokka. Katara immediately began complimenting his speech. She turned out the conversation until something caught her attention.

"You guys should stay the night: we have some exciting plans tomorrow," Jet proposed. Juliet's gut tugged at her at the words 'exciting plans'. She had no doubt what he was planning wouldn't be pleasant at all.

"Uh sorry, Jet, but unfortunately we have to leave now," Sokka declined as politely as he could.

"Sokka! You're kidding me! I had an important mission for you!" Jet replied with exaggerated hand gestures that made it look anything but genuine. Despite that Sokka clearly did not notice as the only heard was 'mission'.

"What mission?" Sokka ask trying and failing to hide his interest. Juliet grabbed his arm impulsively.

"Let's discuss this with the rest of the gang. _Privately."_ She added with a sharp look at Jet. Jet smirked at her and gestured over to a platform where they could speak alone. After the young firebender dragged them over to the platform she gripped her forearms and hissed irritatedly.

"This Jet guy is really getting on my nerves. Something's up; we should leave tonight and stay out of trouble."

"What are you talking about? Jet's been the sweetest guy since we got here!" Katara said dreamily.

"He's ignored my entire existence! That's the farthest from 'sweet' he'll ever get." Juliet countered, gripping her arms tighter.

"That is true..." Aang said, looking conflicted. "Maybe we should leave, if Juliet is feeling uncomfortable."

"Well...there goes that mission." Sokka said, clearly disappointed.

"No! Juliet's not upset right, Jules?" Katara pleaded, her eyes wide. Juliet was slightly surprised to hear her use the nickname Zuko gave her. She must really want to stay. Juliet looked at her friends who were all waiting for her answer. She knew they would leave if she told them how uncomfortable she really was, but... Maybe her gut was wrong, if they all thought that Jet was a nice guy.

"Alright, fine, we can stay the night, but we need to be careful." Juliet said, resignation lacing her voice. Katara practically squealed in excitement as she ran over to wherever Jet was to tell him the news.

The next day Juliet woke up thrashing around in her sleeping bag from a nightmare she had already forgotten. She stood up quickly and wiped the sweat from her forehead and turned around to find Katara's empty sleeping bag. The firebender sighed exasperatedly, regretting that she ever agreed to stay in a hideout where she was hated by all the inhabitants. She needed to get far away from here to clear her head, so she decided to go for a run.

Twenty minutes later, Juliet was in harmony the _thump thump_ of her feet and rapid beating of her heart. The calming effect of the howling wind through her hair nullified all the stress and worry in her head. Soon enough, she started hearing voices up ahead. The young firebender soundlessly slowed down until she could her Sokka's hard voice between the trees. Sneaking a look, she found Jet and his cronies bullying an old man wearing Fire Nation robes.

"Jet, he's just an old man!" Sokka protested.

"He's Fire Nation! Search him!"

"But he's not hurting anyone!"

"Have you forgotten that the Fire Nation killed your mother? Remember why you fight!"

"This doesn't feel right."

"It's what has to be done. Now let's get outta here."

Sokka's eyes met hers and his eyes widened. She pit a finger on her lips, indicating that she'll deal with it, and prayed that he'll understand.

"Sokka, is there something wrong?" Jet asked looking back at him, eyes narrowed. Sokka wiped the surprised look on his face and looked at Jet.

"No, I just thought I saw something."

"Then let's get moving."

Once she was sure they left, Juliet jumped out to aid the man who was still wheezing on the floor.

"Thank you so much, young girl," the old man said as she helped him stand up. He was about limp his way home alone when Juliet insisted she accompany him to ensure his safety. With aching feet, she made it back to the hideout. In the shadows of the trees Juliet could see a figure walking towards her. The young firebender paused and rested her hand on her swords. Despite her exhaustion, she should be able to hold her own as it was only one person.

"You can calm down, I have no intention to hurt you." Jet's arrogant voice rang out as he stepped into the moonlight with a smirk. Juliet didn't move and her grip on her swords tightened. His smirk widened.

"Don't underestimate me, Jet." Juliet said unsheathing her swords. He puts a hand on his heart in mock hurt.

"Me? Never. You Fire Nation scum are too sneaky to underestimate."

Before she could process what he said she felt something slam into her skull and her world went black.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Sokka watched the moon rise well above the horizon and his worry for his firebending friend increased ten fold. Jet had told them at dinner that Juliet was doing 'a top secret mission that was essential for his master plan' and won't be done until tomorrow. Katara and Aang hesitated slightly at the news but asked him for missions excitedly too. Sokka, however didn't believe a word he said. Jet had broken all of his trust with the fiasco that happened with the old man. The worst part was that Aang and his sister thought just assumed _he_ was the one lying, which angered Sokka more. How could they choose to believe a stranger? If Juliet were here she'd have backed him up.

Juliet. The warrior hadn't seen her since spotting her in the bushes. She was going to help the old man but she never came back. Now that he thought about it...Jet never returned with him back to the hideout with him either. He said he wanted to 'scout'. Suddenly a strong sense that Jet had something to do with Juliet's disappearance washed over him. Without thinking he grabbed a rope and went up the trees to find him.

He sprinted past the huts as he looked wildly for the rogue. He s stopped abruptly, his blood running cold and he was sure that he stopped breathing. He found Juliet _and_ Jet. Blood was running down her temple and dripping from her chin to the chains wrapped around her chest, wrists and legs to a chair. Jet and the other freedom fighters made a circle around her.

He quickly got the gist of the argument. They were going to bomb the dam near the Fire Nation village in order to 'purify them from the evils of those scum bags' and he's going to throw Juliet in there to die with the rest if the village. Sokka didn't have time to go get help. There's no way he'll be able to convince Aang and Katara fast enough to save Juliet, so he leaped into action alone.

"Let go of her, Jet." He said as he came out of his hiding spot, boomerang at hand. The Freedom Fighters attacked him simultaneously after spotting the warrior. But Sokka was fastto the point where Jet's minions ended up attacking each other. With them momentarily distracted, Sokka sprinted over to Jet to give him the beating of his life. Jet had other plans as he quickly lifted a dagger and pressed it against Juliet's neck. Sokka stopped mid punch at the sight, all colour leaving his face.

"Ah-ah. One step closer and I'll change my plans and kill her now," Jet threatened his face twisting into a cruel . Sokka hesitated his hand still in mid air and trembling. Jet saw his hesitation and pressed the knife harder against Julie's neck, causing a fat drop blood to slide down from her neck.

Sokka dropped his arm his mind racing with all the possibilities, but he knew that he couldn't win right now. He would have to follow Jet's rules until he found an opening. His minions had untangled each other and stood around Sokka ready to attack. By the looks on their faces he knew the same trick won't work again the second time.

"Tsk, you really do care about her life. Disgusting. Tie him up and send him far enough that he be won't be able to interrupt our plans."

Then he let them hit him on the head and his world went black.

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As the sun pierced through her closed eyes, Julie snapped her eyes open. She felt like her head felt like it was being repeatedly hit with a sledgehammer and her entire body throbbed painfully. After blinking a few times her vision adjusted and she found herself tied with chains to a chair right in front of the dam. Her eyes widened in alarm as she saw a huge mass of blasting jelly on the dam. It was going to explode. Who would bring her here? _How_ did she get here? She looked around frantically and found her friends standing, on the edge of the path the water would go, talking to... Jet. He did this. _How DARE he...he will regret the day he ever met me._ Wrath so strong overcame her that she lit her chains and chair and rocketed towards Jet. Through her rage she saw Sokka turn around and a opened his mouth like he was just about to warn her.

She never would know what he was going to say. The dam exploded. She felt it before she saw it. A tremendous amount of water slammed into her and her fire immediately extinguished. She hit the floor hard enough that she heard a sickening crack that echoed in her head. The Guardian Spirit gasped in pain and water rushed into her body. Ironically, it felt like her body was on fire as her vision blurred and her struggling lessened by the second until all she saw was black.

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Silence. That was what Sokka felt as he watched Julie drown. Utter silence that took over his thoughts andand numbed his limbs. She was so close and yet... He couldn't save her. It was his fault. He thought he could make Jet stop the dam before it... Jet. His hands tightened into fists. Jet decided to kill her not because of anything personal, but just because of where she was born-because of who her parents are. Sokka turned to face Jet who was smiling triumphantly but it dropped when he saw Sokka's face. He was going to kill Jet. Sokka was interrupted by the strong winds that blew from Angeles who's eyes started glowing an unearthly blue. The Avatar State.

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Juliet woke up feeling warm and safe, all the pain gone. She must be dead, she thought. This must be heaven. However, a few seconds later a girl about half a head taller than her appeared. She was wearing a long white dress with angel sleeves and gold gladiator sandals. Her dark hair and blue-grey eyes seemed to give off an ethereal glow. She also looked somewhat familiar to Juliet. She looks like the exact same girl she saw in the forest when she was taken to the spirits.

"We meet again, Juliet." said the girl with a soft smile. Juliet didn't smile back. What she'd said, 'again', confirmed her suspicions.

"Who are you?" Juliet asked.

"My name is Marina, the Guardian Spirit of Avatar Roku."

Juliet had read quite a bit about Marina. She was the only air nomad to have waterbending. Not only that, but, unlike normal waterbenders, Marina can _produce_ her bending water, so she never needed a source. She also-

"-died prematurely, yes. I was eighteen when Sozin killed me." Marina finished her thoughts. Right, Juliet recalled. She was also blessed by Abtin, the spirit of thought, with telepathy.

"Why am I here? I'm not dead am I?" Juliet questioned. As much as it hurt to be alive, she really didn't want to die.

"No, but you're not far from it. You're body had received several bruises on the spine along with a fractured skull, a few broken ribs, and your lungs are nearly completely filled with water. Honestly, it's pretty surprising you're alive." Marina pondered.

"So how do I stay alive?" Juliet snapped, her patience running out.

"Your Avatar resorted to the Avatar State once he saw the dam explode on you. He thinks your dead. Luckily you can use that to save yourself _and_ teach your Avatar to control himself in his vulnerable state."

"How?"

"As his Guardian Spirit, your are able to sense when he transforms to the Avatar State. You felt it before at Roku's temple. If you focus on this power you will be able to communicate with his conscious and share the burden of power. This way he will have enough power to be extremely powerful but not enough for the other Avatars to be in control of his body. At the same time you will also gain the Avatar's powers now that you are sharing the burden.

"This time, only because you're on the brink of death, I'll help you. Until we meet again, Juliet."

Juliet had barely understood what Marina had explained to her when a bright blue light exploded in her eyes and she was back underwater. However she couldn't feel the water crushing her and she could breathe. She felt...powerful.

And _angry._

So extremely _enraged_ and _furious_ that all she could see was _red._ Somehow through her jumbled thoughts she could find a name to direct her anger at.

 _Jet._

He _disrespected_ her, _humiliated_ her, _degraded_ her, then he attempted to _kill_ her, and she'd never once did harm to him.

 _Let's see who survives after I get my hands on you._

With a blast of air she bolted up out of the water. In the back of her mind, she was relieved that Aang was out of the Avatar State and her friends were safe. However her thoughts screamed at her to destroy Jet and she ignored her friends and bolted towards the rogue with an enormous wave of fire trailing behind her. Jet made eye contact with the firebender and his eyes widened as though he just realized what he's done, what a huge mistake he made. Juliet was close, she would have her revenge, but as soon she reached land the power left her and a voice whispered inside her.

 _I promised you safety and not revenge. You are safe now. Until we meet again, try not to explode anyone._

Suddenly her powers vanished and her world went black.

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When Juliet woke up every single muscle in her body was aching and she felt like something was drilling into the back of her skull. Disoriented, she waited for eyes to adjust before she realized that they were in the air and underneath her was the familiar leather of Appa's saddle. She tried to move but pain spiked in her back and she groaned.

At the sound of her waking Sokka perked up beside herher.

"Juliet?" He whispered poking her cheek annoyingly. "You dead?"

Juliet whacked his hand away. "Does it look like I'm dead, you idiot?" she snapped half-heartedly, and tried to fight the grin that was taking over her face. At the sound of her voice, Aang and Katara took notice of her as well.

"Juliet!" They both cried out in relief and rushed by her side.

With Sokka's help, she sat up. The gaang held each other in a group hug. When they released each other. Juliet began explaining what happened to her when she nearly drowned, telling them about Marina and how she can help Aang control the Avatar state. After talking the gaang decided to call it a night. Sokka and Katara slept almost immediately, leaving Aang and Juliet alone. Despite him facing away from her, she could feel him thinking.

"Hey, if you don't stop thinking, your head's going to explode." Juliet said, only half-joking. He whirled around with wide eyes and calmed down once he saw Juliet.

"Oh. Hey, Juliet." He said, his eyes downcast.

"What's on your mind?"

"Just how you were today. You were... _different_ somehow. Angrier." He said staring at the sky. "And I was thinking about how the more control I gained, the less you have control over yourself. And I don't really want control at your expense."

Their eyes met. His gaze was worried and stressed-a boy carrying the burden no one should be forced to have. Juliet looked away and sighed.

"Look, Aang, I'm still new to all of this just like you. So please understand that I had _no_ idea what I was doing. It's like when you have all of this power-even if it's only half-my emotions were like amplified and-"

"Uncontrollable? So uncontrollable that you'd have to act on it?"

"Exactly. And I was just so angry at Jet that I couldn't stop-"

"See? That's exactly why I don't want you to do this! It's too dangerous!" Aang interrupted, clearly distressed.

"But now I know. We can learn from our past mistakes," Juliet said, sounding very much like her uncle, "to move forward. Marina did say she would meet with again. She can definitely teach me more. So don't panic, Aang, alright? And please don't try to do this on your own. Let us help you. We're not tagging along to be bystanders."

She looked at Aang to find him looking back at her, and more at ease than before.

"Thanks, Juliet." he said with a slight smile. "Just promise me one thing."

"What?"

"The next time you decide to rise from the dead can you _please_ let me know in advance? It scared the spirits out of me to see you come out like a zombie."

Juliet laughed and then grinned at him. "Fine, I'll be sure to send a letter prior my death. Now go to sleep."

"Goodnight, Juliet."

"Goodnight, Aang."

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 **Helloooo! I have rised from the dead (much like Juliet did) to give you guys this chapter and I hope you liked it! Please review and let me know what you think.**


	8. Secrets

-Secrets-

After a long torturous day through the Great Divide, the gaang paused to rest. There was no noise except for the soft crackling of the fire Juliet had made and the soft snores of her friends sleeping peacefully. Yet, her mind refused to sleep. After resting for a while, she could no longer run away from the things she refused to face. Every time she closed her eyes, all she could see was Zuko's face contorted with hatred or that blasted spirit Anemoi and his reoccurring presence in her dreams and nightmares, each one more confusing than the last.

Suddenly she heard Aang stir behind her as he sat up with a cry, pushing Momo of him, causing the flying lemur to wake Katara and Sokka. Sokka stood up immediately, boomerang at hand as he rubbed his eyes tiredly. Katara eyed Aang worriedly.

"What is it? Are we being attacked again?" Sokka mumbled groggily.

"No it was nothing, I just had a weird dream," Aang said sheepishly. "Sorry to disturb you guys, just go back to sleep."

"Don't have to tell me twice," Sokka muttered before falling back to sleep.

"You sure you're okay, Aang?" Katara asked. He nods with a smile and Katara smiles back before settling on her sleeping bag and drifted into unconsciousness. But Juliet saw the strain in that smile. She saw his sweat-soaked shirt and eyes that were heavy with regret. She knew something was wrong but it would be unfair to him if she pressed him when he had been so kind and allowed her to keep her privacy.

So she stayed silent, eventually going into a dreamless sleep.

The next morning the gaang was set for another ride on Appa to the north pole.

"Look at those skies, buddy! It's going to be smooth flying from here on out," Aang said cheerfully, staring at the vast cloudless sky. Juliet stared down at the ocean thoughtfully.

"You know, my uncle always told me that it was a sign that a storm was coming."

"You don't know that," Aang muttered defiantly.

"I know that this was meant to be. You give people hope. You give _us_ hope," she retorted with a smile, Juliet and Aang found themselves smiling back.

"Really?" Sokka asked disbelievingly. "But it's so nice out!"

Juliet shrugged. "He always said: 'The clearer the skies, the worse the storm," she said mimicking her uncle's voice. Sokka chuckled a little but shook his head, clearly not believing her.

"Well, storm or not we need to fly ourselves to a market because we've run out of food," Katara said eyeing the empty bag of food.

"Wait, no! We can't go to the market. It was in this dream I had." Sokka said seriously. Juliet rolled her eyes.

"Does it happen to do with the food eating you?" She asked.

"No, the food was-Wait, how did you know?" Sokka said curiously.

"You talk in your sleep. Very loudly." Juliet deadpanned as Sokka flushed in embarrassment.

"Do not!" Sokka denied although his voice became squeaky.

"Tell that to my poor eardrums," Juliet muttered.

"Okay," Aang said stifling his laugh, "to the market we go!"

It didn't take much time before they found a small market and harbour near a tiny town. As soon as the gaang hopped off, they'd realized that they had absolutely no money to buy the food they needed.

"No money, no food. We're doomed!" Sokka said, dramatically falling to his knees. Katara grabbed him by his ponytail and dragged him up, much to his displeasure, as he stood up hastily with a cry of pain.

"Then get a job, genius," Juliet told him dryly, giving Katara a high five with a grin.

"You two will be the death of me," he said with a groan. Before the girls could retort, a conversation from a nearby pier caught their attention. An old man and woman were arguing; the man was insisting that they should go fishing despite the woman saying that there was a storm. The old woman left furiously, refusing to be his fish hauler.

"I'll be your fish hauler!" Sokka cried to the man. The man took one look at him and nodded.

"You're hired."

"Sokka!" Juliet cried.

"What? You said I should get a job." Sokka pointed out.

"Not one that puts you in danger! I told you there was a storm coming up." Juliet replied.

"You're just as crazy as my wife! We're gonna be fine, there's not a cloud in the sky," He nudged Sokka and he looked back at the girls, mouthing 'I'll be fine' before boarding the boat. Juliet was still worried but knew that Sokka wouldn't change his mind now.

"Uh, should we look for shelter?" Aang said nervously. The old man eyed Aang curiously before his eyes widened.

"Well I'll be a hog monkey's uncle, you're the Avatar, aren't you?"

"Sure is," Katara said with a proud smile. The man grunted as his eyes darkened.

"Nothing to be smiley about, he turned his back on the world." He accused, his eyes narrowing. Aang's eyes widened as he looked away in shame.

"Stop yelling at him! Aang would _never_ turn his back on anyone." Katara said defensively.

"Really? Then I must have imagined the past hundred years of suffering and death." The old man retorted sarcastically.

"I'm sorry, but why exactly do you think you have the right to say that?" Juliet said as she stared the old man down "Have you been saving lives ever since you were young, with the little or no bending you know? No, you were running a pathetic fishing shop and I'm guessing you were also charging too much for a little extra profit you don't need. When you have the weight of the world on your shoulders, then you can tell Aang what he did or did not do."

The old man opened his mouth, then closed it again, stunned into silence. Juliet turned around to find Aang on his glider, flying off without saying a word. Katara called after him but to no avail. The two girls shared a worried look and hastily hopped on Appa to catch up with the disheartened airbender.

"Is he actually flying with that?" Juliet couldn't help but ask curiously.

"No, he's directing air underneath it to help him glide in the air," Katara explained and glanced at Juliet. "How did you learn airbending anyway?"

"I first realized when I was about five. I was with my mom in the palace garden. I was going to feed the turtle ducks in our pond when I sneezed... And blew it out of the pond. After that, it was a whole lot of reading and practicing."

"And your parents approved? You're mom didn't...you know, hurt you?" Katara said cautiously.

"Oh spirits no, she was the only one that actually supported me save for my uncle. She used to distract my father so I could get an extra few minutes of practice...until she disappeared." Juliet rubbed her wrist scars that were hidden underneath her fingerless gloves, a movement that Katara didn't miss. The brunette held Juliet's hand sadly "Our mother died when we were young. She sacrificed herself to save me from being taken away with the other waterbenders."

"I'm sorry," Juliet croaked with a pained expression.

"Don't be. You didn't-Wait I think I found Aang!" Katara cried pointing to a small cave inside a mountain. They get a glimpse of the Avatar's warm coloured robes and land Appa to find they're suspicions correct. Aang was hugging his knees to his chest in the further end of the cave.

"Sorry for running away," Aang said quietly, refusing to look up. Katara sat close next to Aang while Juliet sat in front of the pair, lighting a fire.

"Don't worry about it, that fisherman was way out of line," Katara replied.

"Not really," Aang mumbled, shaking his head sadly.

"What do you mean?" Katara questioned, confused.

"I don't wanna talk about it," Aang said sharply before turning away slightly.

"If you keep running from your problems you'll get nowhere," Juliet said, knowing full well that she isn't following her own advice. But, unlike her, Aang is the avatar and doesn't have the luxury of hiding from his shadows.

"I'll never forget the day the monks told me I was the Avatar. I was playing with some other kids just outside the south wall. I was trying to teach them how to do the air scooter when Monk Gyatso came and got me. He said that the monks needed to speak with me about something. He took me into the Air Temple where the monks told me that I was the Avatar. I didn't believe them at first but they said they knew that I was the Avatar since I was little. Monk Gyatso told me they would have told me when I was older but they thought the war was coming."

"So you were upset that you were the Avatar? Why wouldn't you be excited about it?" Katara asked.

And then he told them about how his former friends shut him out after finding out what he was. He told them about how his mentor, Monk Gyatso, played games with him which eased his loneliness. When he started feeling better, he'd overheard that Monk Gyatso would no longer be teaching him and Aang would be sent to the eastern air temple to train.

"That's awful, Aang. I don't know what to say," Katara told him.

"How could they do that to me! They wanted to take away everything I knew and everyone I loved!" Aang exploded. His Avatar State began to activate as his tattoos started to glow. The energy from his Avatar State caused the cinders from the fire to swirl towards the girls as his feet lifted from the ground. Juliet braved through the blaze and tried to shake some sense into him, but a bright light flashed before her eyes and suddenly she was in a place she'd only learned about through books that were banned in the Fire Nation. It looked like it came out of a fairy-tale with tall majestic buildings and carefree children in reds and oranges laughing and running around.

The Southern Air Temple.

Not the ruins that it was in now, but how it was a hundred years ago. She stared at it in awe for a few minutes.

It was the most beautiful thing she's ever seen. It vibrated with a sort of _free_ atmosphere she would never feel in the Fire Nation or anywhere else.

Something caught her eye that snapped her out of trail of thought. It was a young boy that his arms around his knees. She knew that face, those arrows. It was Aang. Everything fast forwarded in a flash and suddenly they were in the middle of a vicious storm as she watched Aang nearly drown.

"I should've never done that." She heard a familiar voice say beside her. Juliet's gaze snapped to Aang who was staring at himself mournfully. He must've run away, she realized. She didn't dwell too much on the thought as she grabbed Aang's arm forcing him to face her.

"Look I know this sucks, but we have to go back before you burn Katara alive!"

His eyes widened and in an instant they were back in the cave, the glowing eyes fading away.

"Aang!" Katara cried. The firebender sat back down in her seat as Katara shot her a grateful look. She nodded back.

"Sorry about that." Aang apologized, eyes downcast.

"It's fine," Katara quickly reassured. "you have every right to be angry." Aang refused to make eye contact with the waterbender as he continued the story.

"When I found out I was so upset, I got on Appa and ran away that night. There was a storm coming but I didn't think it would that bad. It was. It pulled me and Appa into the water and the next thing I know you and Sokka got me out of that iceberg."

"I wasn't there to protect my people when the Fire Nation attacked and I wasn't there to stop them from hurting millions for hundred years-"

"Stop," Juliet interrupted raising a hand. "Just stop and think about what you're saying right now."

"What are you-" Aang tried but Juliet interrupted again.

"Do you honestly believe," she pushed. "that you would have made a difference if enormous fireballs attacked your nation by surprise? Would you have really been able to save everyone?"

Aang stayed silent and Juliet nodded. "It's just not rational for you to put all this guilt on your shoulders when you couldn't possibly do anything to change it. At least not anymore."

"Juliet's right, Aang," Katara added. "Even if you didn't run away, you would've died with everyone else."

"You don't know that," he muttered.

"I know that it was meant to be exactly like this. You give people hope. You give _us_ hope." Katara insisted with a warm smile. Juliet nodded in agreement and smiled as well.

"And Aang? The Southern Air Temple was breathtaking." Juliet added remembering the vision. Finally a smile graced the Avatar's face.

Suddenly thunder rattled Juliet's smile away as her heart sank. She looked frantically out of the cave, to find the calm seas have turned into a raging typhoon. She cursed under her breath and looked back at Aang and Katara.

"Sokka's still out there!" She exclaimed. "We have to help him."

Just as she said it an old woman-one Juliet recognized as the fisherman's wife-and repeated what Juliet had said.

"I'll go find him," Aang said, his face switching to determination.

"Not alone, you won't," Juliet said with a nod.

"I'm coming too," Katara added.

"Well, I'm staying here!" The old woman replied to the gaang. They ignored her and hopped on Appa. Her stomach twisted as the rain soaked through her shirt, her hair, in a matter of seconds. She tried not look at the waves that climbed higher and higher, nearly drowning Appa on several times; she tried not think of how easily a small boat could've broken in half at the force.

Few minutes later Katara spotted the boat not too far away.

"There!" Katara cried out. Aang saw where she was pointing and patted Appa's head.

"Just a little farther, buddy,"

The boat rocked back and forth violently, just barely staying above the raging ocean. Juliet opened her bag and scrambled for a rope.

"Keep steady, Aang!" Juliet ordered the Avatar and jumped off Appa. As her feet crashed into the hardwood deck of the boat she immediately spotted Sokka and the old man barely hanging on. Sokka spotted her.

"Juliet, watch out!" he warned as lightning struck the mast, causing it to come crashing down on Juliet. Instinctively, she twisted around and snapped her hands out, snapping the mast in half with a blade of fire. She quickly turned around and sprinted to Sokka and the old man.

"Grab on. Don't let go." she said simply throwing them one end of the rope as the rain sunk into her bones. When she was sure that Sokka had held on tight, she rocketed up onto Appa, the other end of the rope in hand. She felt the rope go taut at their weight. She groaned as the rope seared her fingers. The water made her hair stick to her face, making it hard to see clearly and her muscles burned with the effort.

"A little help would be great," Juliet ground out, teeth chattering under the freezing rain. Immediately Katara and Aang Jumped up and helped her pull Sokka and the old man up. Once they managed to get on Appa, Aang twisted back for Appa's reigns. Just as he got a hold of them, a colossal wave, submerging them all, into the dark abyss of the ocean.

Juliet oddly couldn't feel anything, even as she knew the salty water was rushing down her throat. As she tried and failed to form an air bubble around her, she could faintly see Sokka, Aang, Katara and the old man drifting away as her vision dimmed. She gripped Appa's fur tightly and squeezed her eyes shut. She _really_ didn't want to die today.

 _Spirits Tui and La, if you can hear me, please, please help us._

She felt uneasy asking for help from anyone, let alone spirits that had ruined her life, but what else can she do? Suddenly something flashed causing the firebender to open her eyes to find Aang, his eyes and tattoos glowing. This time, however, he raised them all above the water. Once they were all out the glowing stopped and Juliet felt herself fall back on to the saddle with a harsh thud. Suddenly, she was all too aware of her inability to breathe and snapped up to vomit the water in her lungs. After she was done heaving she collapsed on the saddle as Aang steered Appa back to the cave. The rain still splashed at her face annoyingly, so, with the little energy she had left, she raised a wall of flame above them, effectively stopping the rain from reaching them and provided a comforting warmth.

"Why didn't you do that before?" Katara asked quietly. Juliet's gaze snapped to her. There was nothing accusatory in the waterbender's eyes, only curiosity and exhaustion.

"I can't firebend when I'm stressed, or nervous, or scared. It's one of the things that don't change no matter how much I train. If I do, I'll lose control and hurt someone," Juliet admitted, her voice sounding little more than a hoarse whisper. Everyone else stayed silent, save for the hissing of water hitting fire and occasional lightning, for the rest of the ride, trying to collect themselves after nearly dying.

As they landed back in the cave and jumped off Appa, the old woman sighed in relief and rushed to her husband.

Oh, you're alive! You owe this boy an apology," she scolded.

"He doesn't have to apologize," Aang interrupted.

The old man tuturned to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Uh, I don't think I can apologize, but, um, if you weren't here now, well, I guess I wouldn't be either. Thank you for saving my life, Avatar," he replied. Aang nodded with a smile and turned to Katara to thank her. Juliet glanced at Sokka, only to find him still shivering slightly.

Here," she told him, producing a flame at the palm of her hand. Unlike most her flames this one was a pale, brick red color. She pushed the flame towards him but he flinched away. She grabbed his wrist, made his palm face the sky and the flame moved from her hand to his. Sokka stared at his hand in awe.

"Am I... firebending?" He asked, causing the firebender to flick his forehead that was followed by a 'hey!'.

"Don't be an idiot," she answered, unamused. "This is red fire. It's a flame that can be produced by even the weakest firebenders. It doesn't burn, it's only felt as mild heat and the bender can transfer it to someone, even if they can't bend."

"Wow," Sokka said tearing his gaze from the blaze to face her. Juliet was momentarily taken aback by the sight of his stormy blue eyes so close to hers. She almost can see them swirling around his pupils like waves in the deep seas.

"What are the other types of fires?" he asked.

The question snapped her out of her daze. She took a slight step back and reproduced the fire in her palm. She didn't realize it went out.

"Next is yellow or orange fire." she said, pale red transforming into a yellow fire with streaks of orange. "It's the most common type of fire. It can burn, but no more than first degree burns, sometimes, rarely, second degree." the fire in her hands brightening to become nearly white. "After that comes white fire which is uncommon, but can be found. With some effort whit fire can penetrate shields of yellow fire. They cause second and sometimes third degree burns." the flame turned blue. "After that, is blue fire which is pretty rare to find someone to posses. They give at least third degree burns. After that comes a fire no one has seen or possessed in a hundred years. It's no more than a myth." Sokka watched her amber eyes become glossy as and looked as though she was another place completely.

" What is it?" he prodded curiously.

"Emerald fire." she replied with no further explanation.

"You believe it exists." he observed.

"With all my heart," she whispered, turning to him. Her gaze made his questions die on his tongue. She looked so sad he wished he could make it disappear somehow, but stayed silent.

"Look," Katara said, "the rain stopped."

Juliet turned to see that the rain has indeed stopped and the sun has reappeared, banishing her earlier thoughts. She thought of her prayer to the spirits, how Aang had saved them almost immediately after it. Too much of a coincidence to be anything but the spirits answering her call. She mentally thanked them as the gaang admired the calm after the storm.


	9. Revelations

**Warning: This chapter contains mention of torture and depictions of violence.**

 **I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender only my Oc Juliet. Hope you guys had a great Christmas! Here's a chapter for the new year. Also, shush I know it's almost May.**

 **Reviews=faster updates**

* * *

-Revelations-

The gaang was forced to land at an abandoned town when Sokka proved to be getting worse from what had started as a mild cough. Katara looked at her brother worriedly as he commented on how funny Appa was. She placed a wet cloth on his forehead.

"Here," she said, "this should get your fever down."

Juliet stared at the sea of trees thoughtfully. It was inevitable what happened to Sokka since he'd refused to dry out properly after the storm. She heard him laugh deliriously behind her and saying it was one of Appa's jokes. She turned around and started a fire when she heard Katara start to cough.

"Not you too," Aang said worriedly as he helped Juliet boil some water over the fire for some tea. Her uncle always told her that tea solved everything, so she thought why not? They had no real medicine; this was their best option.

"Don't worry, it's just a cough," Katara waved nonchalantly. Juliet glanced at her waterbending friend worriedly.

"I doubt it, Katara. Sokka said the same thing, and now he's talking to a rock," she pointed out, motioning to Sokka, who was indeed yelling at a rock. "We need to find you guys real medicine." As if to prove her point, Katara started coughing again, this time much harder, than before. Juliet dissipated her fire and aided her friend to a makeshift bed near Sokka's when it was clear she couldn't walk anymore. Aang placed the tea next to the siblings before showing Juliet a map.

"Look, it says there's a herbal institute right up that mountain," he said pointing at a mountain that can be seen in the distance. "There must be some medicine up there. I'll go check, you stay here, next to Katara and Sokka."

"No, I'm coming with you, it's not safe by yourself," Juliet responded, shaking her head.

"I'll be fine," Aang insisted, "Zuko can't be anywhere near here."

"You don't know that," Juliet retorted, "If you're in sort of danger I wouldn't know and by the time I figure out something's wrong you'd either be dead or imprisoned. I'm going," Juliet repeated, her voice not allowing room for argument.

"Alright, I can't stop you. Just grab on tight, " Aang shrugged as he snapped open his glider. Juliet gave her water bottle to Katara and replaced the damp cloth on Sokka's forehead. After she finished she nodded at the Avatar and wrapped her hands around his neck.

Once Aang jumped off, Juliet let out an excited whoop. The air was running through her hair, hitting her face in cool, refreshing waves as excitement pooled in her stomach. She thought she knew what freedom was, but she was wrong. This, this incredible feeling of lightness, _this_ was freedom.

"This is amazing!" she cried, staring down at the trees beneath her. Aang grinned at her playfully.

"I know right? Man, if we weren't looking for medicine, I could've shown you all sorts of cool flying tricks."

"Maybe next time; we're here," The firebender replied with a smile, pointing at the small domed building a few meters away.

As the pair enter the institute they're immediately bombarded by the strong smell of herbs and stifling humidity. They watch as an old woman shuffles around, seemingly mumbling to herself. Aang asks for her help, but the lady ignores him, grabbing a few petals from a strange flower and some black seeds before grinding them together. Aang and Juliet stay silent, anxiously waiting for her to finish. When she does finish, what turned out to be her cat's lunch, she tells them that only frozen frogs found in the swamp can help their friends and promptly dismisses them with a wave of her hand.

They do as they are told and head down to the forest in comfortable silence. Rubbing her arms anxiously, Juliet couldn't shake the feeling that the rustling coming from the bushes wasn't from the wind but every time she turned to check, no one was there.

"I don't understand why you're so worried, Juliet, we're obviously alone. There's no way someone could-" Aang started, but Juliet stopped listening as a noise caught her attention. A noise that almost sounded like the whizz, so faint she almost missed it, of something thin and nimble whistling through the air...

Without thinking, she tackled Aang to the ground into the murky waters, instantly soaking them and drowning out Aang's objection, as an arrow soared above them, piercing the tree behind them. Suddenly they come out of the shadows, as though they manifested from them: archers with their bows raised and aimed at them. Juliet stood up and whirled around, forming a small tornado to catch them off guard.

"Run!" she grabbed Aang's forearm and pulled him up from the water and they both sprinted into the sea of trees. Aang seemed to have snapped out of the shock, and the both of them take off Aang snapping out his glider while Juliet shot blasts of air at the onslaught of arrows, trying to buy enough time to reach for the bow in her bag. Aang grabs her waist and jumps into the air. They fly high long enough for Juliet to think they lost them before an arrow rips through the fabric of the glider and they both start falling into the swamp, and ultimately, their capture.

Juliet watched as Zhao presented himself as the came closer to the bottom and refused to give up. She looked at Aang to find him staring back with the same look of determination.

They would make it.

The duo spun their arms around to make a massive tornado, knocking out all the archers in sight. Juliet breathed a sigh of relief as they landed on the now quiet swamp. Aang grinned.

"Glad that's over. Let's get those frogs and go back before-"

Two metal nets shoot seemingly out of nowhere, rendering them both nearly powerless and pinned to a tree. They both watched as Zhao appeared from the shadows.

Temper flaring, Juliet ignites a fireball in the palm of her hand, ready to burn the entire forest down if she had to. Her other hand discreetly heating through the metal behind her.

"I wouldn't do that, princess," Zhao gives her a smug smile, and Juliet's heart almost stops at the sight of the blade of fire threateningly close to Aang's neck. She composes herself, knowing that if she showed her fear, Zhao would win.

"It's nice to see you too, Commander-"

"It's _Admiral_ now," Zhao's smug smile wavering when Juliet flashes him a patronizing grin.

"Riiiiight, _Admiral Zhao,_ shouldn't you be sailing the seas or something? Nevertheless, it's quite disappointing to see that your ability to bluff is even worse than before," The fireball became distinctly larger and turned a menacing shade of blue, but before she could fire it, a barrel of metal arrows shot at her skillfully, through the holes of her net stinging her skin as they scraped through it, binding her to the tree so thoroughly that if she tried to escape, she'd most certainly injure herself. Weren't they supposed to be knocked out? The game was over. They were certainly doomed, she thought hopelessly. She hissed in pain as Zhao stepped close enough she could smell his rotting breath. Grabbing her chin forcefully, he growled.

"I want to see you smile when I'm through with you."

The thought itself positively terrified her but she kept her grin on her face and held her head high. She had to stay strong, if not to maintain her pride and dignity, then to uphold her vow to protect Aang.

"I'd like to see you try."

The Admiral smiled at her, a horrible mirthless smile that twisted her stomach. She could've sworn that she felt her other hand burn through the net just as he slammed her head into the tree, knocking her unconscious.

* * *

Aang sighed bitterly, taking in the stale metallic walls. Even if he somehow managed to airbend his way out of his chains, there was no way he'd be able to fight the horde of firebenders that stood vigilantly outside his cell. Juliet, he had to get to Juliet. Zhao wanted something from her, and he looked pretty desperate to get it out of her. He didn't want to think of what he'd do, what he might be doing right now, to her. The iron dug into his wrists pulling his arms apart not painfully but insistently, a constant reminder of this reality, no matter how much he tried to escape it.

A loud bang resounded, then a violent crack, soon followed by a blood-curdling shriek of pain. Aang shut his eyes tightly as the crack and scream reverberated again and again and again, like a dreadful symphony meant to coax out pain made for one to break. He'd recognize that voice anywhere. It was Juliet. He struggled and pulled at his chains.

Out. He needed to get out. He needed to find her.

* * *

Juliet had tried and failed to swallow her scream as the whip slapped her bare spine. The blow shot agony down her legs and up her neck. She could see blood, _her_ blood, dripping on the floor. They'd chained her up, with her hands and legs bound and completely covered in steel, that would cost too much time and energy to burn through, that dug into her joints painfully. Yet she did not yield, she refused to give them what they wanted to know. Zhao snarled at her and asked her the same question he'd ask after every lash.

 _Where is the last dragon?_

 _The dragons are dead._ She'd reply every single time. Dead, wiped out of existence, by their own students.

They never believed her.

Instead, they struck again, this time right on the previous lash that made her writhe in her chains, her lungs burning from the excruciating scream that escaped her throat. Her vision started to blur, their sounds and voices and faces all blending into one.

 _Light the whip on fire!_ She faintly heard. _Don't question my orders, do it NOW!_

If she would go down, she thought, she'd bring all these merciless bastards with her. Juliet took a deep breath, gathering up the hot inferno in her blood, just like her uncle had taught her, and roared out a wave of blue fire as though she herself were an azure dragon in human skin. Zhao and her tormentors cried out in shock and pain. Then she tumbled into a pit of darkness.

* * *

Aang blew out a blast of air that rattled his chains violently, but they remained attached to the two poles on either side of him relentlessly. He let out a frustrated cry. The screaming stopped about five minutes ago, and it was driving him insane not knowing what had happened to his friend. She couldn't be dead, not after he heard an almost inhuman roar. She was alive-alive and fighting.

But for how long?

Suddenly his door clicked open and a man in black and a blue mask walked in. Aang's eyes widened as the masked man released him.

"You're here to free me?" Aang asked. The man nodded and motioned him to follow him.

"Wait! We have to free my friend first! Please! They were hurting her! Her name's Juliet and-," Aang stopped talking when the masked man halted abruptly at the name of his friend. He turned around.

"Where is she?" The masked man asked. Aang instantly recognized that voice."Zuko? But why would you-,"

" _Where is she?!"_ The man-Zuko-repeated again. Aang would've been reluctant to tell him anything if it weren't for the raw fear and rage in his voice. Despite how treated her, he still cared for her. Maybe more than she knew.

"I-I don't know," he said frantically, cursing himself for being so damn useless. He shut his eyes and pointed to the left wall. "I heard her screams come from there."

Without a word, Zuko sprinted out of his cell, his steps silent. Without thinking, Aang followed after him. They kept running down the hall until they saw five guards guarding a huge door. Zuko grabbed the Airbender and pulled him into the shadows of another hallway.

"Stay here. Don't get in my way," he whispered harshly, before swiftly turning to the soldiers. Aang in awe as Zuko blocked and dodged the blows of five men with ease before knocking them down each with a blow to the head. Sheathing his swords, Zuko turned around to motion to Aang to follow him only to face another soldier charging at him. Before he could react, Zuko watched as the soldier was slammed to the side with a blast of air. He snapped his head to the direction of the winds to find Aang, knees bent and arms stretched out in an offensive position.

Aang's mouth twitched into the ghost of a smile when Zuko gave him a nod. If he didn't know any better, he'd think he was grateful. His smile disappeared when they slammed the door open.

He bit back a gasp at what he saw. Juliet chained up with nothing but a bra and her black leggings, that were now tattered and nearly tearing at the seams. He felt his lunch climb up his stomach as he eyed the small pool of blood that was trickling from her wrists and back.

He felt his lunch climb up his throat and the blood leave his face. Zuko didn't waste any time though, he practically flew to his sister and quickly unlocked her bindings with the guard's keys. As she fell, Aang instinctively ran to catch her, his arms instantly splashed with her blood. Aang looked away from the bloody mess of skin that was her wrists, ankles, and back.

His heartbeat quickened as her eyes fluttered open, her tired amber eyes making his heartache.

"Aang...my bag...swords...back of the room," she mumbled out, her wan lips just barely moving. He looked up at Zuko, who swiftly picked up her things. They turned around to leave when they were faced with three soldiers, their bodies lying limp against either side of the door. But that wasn't Aang gagged at. It was the skin Zhao's face and left hand, which was shrivelled up and red. Burned.

"Are they dead?" Aang asked, his voice barely audible.

"No time to find out," Zuko said, although his voice was uneasy. He looked back at his sister. "We need to move, now,"

* * *

The first thing Juliet felt when she woke up was lightness. She was no longer chained. Then came the pain, sharp and searing hot pain that sharpened her vision. She turned her head and saw a silhouette so familiar she couldn't help but let the name escape her lips.

"Zuko...?" she mumbled and the silhouette turned. She knew that mask. Remembered when she'd bought it for him on his birthday. She smiled slightly at the memory and pressed her face to the other side, which was warm and comforting, and smelled like citrus and jasmine. She knew that smell too. It was Aang.

She tried to focus on what had happened, but the pain intensified, keeping her frustratingly dizzy and delirious. She could faintly hear a _thump-thump, thump-thump_. It sounded like a drum, like a heartbeat, or maybe even footsteps.

Aang and Zuko must have heard all those thumps because they pressed themselves against the wall. She tried focusing through the stinging in her hands and legs. Why was she here? The footsteps were becoming louder. She heard Aang's heart beat quicken.

Maybe she could help. "Zuko, hold my hand, and put your back on the wall," She tried to make her voice sound authoritative but what came out was little more than a rasp. To here surprise, Zuko did as he was told after a moment's hesitation.

Juliet focused the spiritual energy around them. She's never done this with three people, and she was never this drained. Spiritual practices always need energy, and she was already on the edge. Even so, she pushed at the wall, willing it to fade, willing their bodies into intangibility. Black spots swam in her vision, but they broke through. She could faintly hear her brother gasp as they went through the wall before she became unconscious.

* * *

Aang didn't understand what just happened, and they didn't have time to. Zuko began tugging him along before he got over the fact that they went _through_ a wall. Didn't matter now though, he thought as he began sprinting as fast as he can through the open gates. There were no more guards in sight, all of them probably searching for them inside the prison.

Once they reached the forest, Aang and stopped to rest. Zuko had taken off his mask, his eyes trained solely on his sister. Aang couldn't help but stare at her too, as he wondered why he didn't see it before. It must've been why she always managed to slip away from Zhao. He remembered how the shackles in her cell, when they first tried to save her but she ended up saving them, were empty, as though she'd never touched them in the first place. He wondered what else she was hiding.

He was almost surprised to see Zuko's expression when he looked up. His eyes were so soft, so filled with worry that he couldn't help nut opening his mouth.

"You _do_ care," Aang blurted out before he could think. Zuko's face hardened as his eyes snapped up at him, his voice was stone cold.

"The only reason I'm not taking you in is because of her. You don't take good care of her and you'll be sorry, _Avatar_ ," He sneered before sprinting away. Aang looked down at Juliet, and suddenly, he was acutely aware of how pale her skin was, how anguished her face looked. Suddenly, all he could feel was the sickening ridges in her back and the uncomfortable feeling of his sleeves soaked in her blood. He realized with a sudden urgency that Juliet wasn't okay at all and ran, as fast as his feet would let him.

* * *

The next time Juliet woke up, her face was pressed against a soft green mat and the soothing scent of ginger and cinnamon filled her nose. Even so, alarm rose in her when she realized she couldn't feel her back. She tried to stand up, but her limbs refused to support her and she fell in heap back to the mat. Suddenly, a hand was on her should and she, instinctively, grabbed the intruder's hand and twisted it around, pinning it on their back.

"Ouch, ouch, Juliet! It's me, Aang!" At the sound of his voice, her vision sharpened as she indeed saw Aang's yellow and orange robes and she let go of his arm immediately.

"Sorry about that," she huffed, pushing away that fell on her face as she shuffled back a bit."Where are we?"

"At the institute, you were in pretty bad shape; it was the only place I could think of," he paused, "You never told me you could go through walls," he said quietly.

Juliet studied his face and saw his feelings clear as day. He was hurt and confused; he's wondering what he did wrong. Suddenly, she couldn't bear to look at him.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, staring at her chest that was entirely wrapped in gauze, not knowing what else to say.

Aang sighed and rubbed a hand on his face. "It's fine, Juliet, I just-," he looked up at her, examining her face, "I was really worried about you."

"I know, I'm sorry," she repeated, refusing to meet his eyes, "I promised I was going to protect you and I failed in every possible way-"

Aang wrapped his arms around Juliet, his hands gentle and careful around her back, stunning her into silence. "Hey, hey, don't beat yourself up about it, you did the best you could, Juliet; you couldn't have seen it coming."Juliet tentatively hugged him back. It's been so long, she realized, so long since she felt like someone cared.

"If anything," the airbender added, "You helped us escape from the prison, _I_ should be thanking _you._ "

"Now, let's go, we need to get those frogs and leave before anyone else finds us," Aang said, and helped pull her up into a standing position. Juliet thanked the old lady before they left.

When they got back to their campsite, Juliet quickly gave them the frogs and collapsed on her bedroll. She could already felt her painkillers wearing off; her every breath made her back throb. Her eyes started to droop and her vision darkened.

"Juliet? Are you ok?" Katara's worried voice wakes her up instantly. Juliet jumped instantly into a sitting position, biting back a groan of pain. She stared at Katara and Sokka- who was right behind his sister-both staring at her bandages-for a moment too long to orient herself before giving them a tight smile.

"Oh, me? Yeah, I'm great. I'm happy to see you guys up and running."

The siblings stared at her, unamused, waiting for an explanation. Juliet looked over at Aang who was on Appa giving her the 'you need to tell them' look.

Juliet looked back at them and collapsed on her bed again.

"It's a long story."


End file.
